Cancellation of steel projects by POSCO and Arcelor Mittal has lessons for others

New Delhi: In quick succession two steel projects worth $18b have been cancelled after they failed to acquire land and other clearances. Many in government are saying its bad for investment, and environmental, labour and other guidelines need to be relaxed to attract foreign investment in manufacturing. As people's movements opposing many of these big infrastructure projects, we feel that these projects are nothing but resource grab and transfer to private corporations for nothing and in violation of constitutional provisions. We need stricter implementation of the existing guidelines to stop such loot of natural resources and stern actions against those responsible.
 

The POSCO Steel project in Odisha is infamous for several illegalities to date: tree-felling; grabbing forest-dwellers land; incomplete assessment and deliberate concealment of facts, seizing natural resources without requisite MoU and environment clearance; criminally beating, arresting and killing those resisting the project; and flagrantly violating fundamental rights to life and liberty of local citizens. Now the Central and State governments have connived with POSCO by modifying rules to continually extend its in-principle approval as multi-product SEZ and violating the requirement that there will be no forcible acquisition of land for SEZs.

• On January 18, 2013 in the 56th Board of Approval meeting POSCO was given the 5^th in-principle approval extension (Annexure 1)! A June 15, 2007 letter issued by the SEZ BoA to all state governments clearly states that no forcible acquisition should be carried out for SEZs. This was backed up by Instruction 29 guidelines on land acquisition for SEZs on August 18, 2009 (Annexure 2) to all state Chief Secretaries reiterating:

The State Governments would not undertake any compulsory acquisition of land for setting up of the SEZs. BoA will not approve any SEZs where the State Governments have carried out or propose to carry out compulsory acquisition of land for such SEZs after 5th April 2007.

• While acquisition under Land Acquisition Act 1894 has been halted by the Odisha High Court for process violations, the illegal forcible acquisition of forest land continues in violation of FRA 2006 and despite intense local opposition. The villagers have taken several resolutions in their gram sabha not to divert their forest land for non-forest purposes in the years 2008, 2010 and 2012. In the gram sabha resolution of October 18, 2012 (Annexures 3 and 4) the Dhinkia panchayat gram sabha noted:

The Gram Sabha endorse [sic] decision taken by the Palli Sabhas to not give consent to the diversion of forest lands under its customary use and boundary for the purpose of the POSCO steel plant project, or for any other purpose, and directs the District Level Committee and the State government to ensure strict compliance with the provisions of the Forest Rights Act, the guideline issued by Ministry of Environment & Forests on 30.07.2009 and the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs on 12th July 2012 in this regard. Diversion of forest land without compliance to the Forest Rights Act and the above mentioned guidelines is a violation of the Forest Rights Act and a criminal offence.

• The POSCO area in Jagatsinghpur Odisha is the site of intense local resistance. The repression and violence that villagers in the area have been facing since the inception of the project are widely documented in the media, by state bodies and by independent NGOs (see Annexures 5 and 6 for brief overview of repression and links to key documents available at: http://www.forestrightsact.com/corporate-projects/item/12-the-posco-project).

• The 1620.496 hectare POSCO-India Pvt. Ltd. multi-product SEZ was given its first in-principle approval on September 28, 2006 in the 5^th SEZ Board of Approval (BoA) meeting. On December 15, 2009 in the 37^th SEZ BoA meeting 11 SEZs whose 2^nd in-principle approval term had lapsed, including POSCO SEZ, were given special de novo approvals to allow the developers to complete their land acquisition (Annexure 7)! At the time, the rules of extension of in-principle approvals did not allow for more than 2 extensions and the Board noted:

…keeping in view the various difficulties expressed by the developers and also keeping in view that under the existing SEZ Rules, there is no provision for grant of third extension in respect of in-principle approvals, though there is a proposal for amending the rules which may take some time. After deliberations, the BoA decided to grant de novo approval… and will process them at par with the first and the second in-principle approval extension cases…

• It is clear the in-principle approval extension rules were modified to aid SEZ developers like POSCO! When the BoA is itself acknowledging difficulties in land acquisition, which are primarily because locals have rejected the project, why is it continuously extending the approval for POSCO SEZ?

• The Center is hiding behind false assurances by the state government of Odisha that no compulsory acquisition of land is being undertaken for POSCO SEZ! There are daily media reports and documentation of the struggles of the locals and the POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti against the forcible and coercive land acquisition being undertaken by the state government. The MoEF/ MOTA committee constituted by the MoEF made explicit note of the copies of all palli sabha resolutions against the POSCO project in Gobindpur and Dhinkia undertaken by the panchayats. It was on the basis of this report that the MoEF withdrew clearance to POSCO but then renewed it on the state government’s false assurances!

• In the October 2010 report of the MoEF committee investigating the implementation of FRA 2006 a majority of three committee members expressly took note of local opposition to the POSCO project and the violations and lapses in due process including suppression of facts; violations of the Forest Rights Act 2006; inadequate R&R provisions; violations in obtaining the environmental clearance; and compliance of CRZ regulations. The members recommended revoking the MoEF environmental clearance (see summary report, Annexure 8).

• The National Green Tribunal has recently taken note of the series of lapses and violations in obtaining environmental clearance for the POSCO project and suspended the clearance of 2011. Based on the NGT judgment of 31.3.2012 the K Roy Paul committee was constituted and its recommendations are being considered again by the MoEF. Consequently, and given the 2007 clearances for the project have lapsed, the NGT has once again halted illegal land acquisition and tree-felling in the area (see latest order, Annexure 9).

• The Centre and the State are colluding to violate laws and guidelines and the decision-making powers of the Panchayats to favour POSCO. With clear and documented evidence of opposition, how can the SEZ BOA claim that the land acquisition for POSCO is not forced? What is the reason for giving POSCO 5^th in-principle approval extension in seven years?

• There is no justification for giving POSCO land and tax concessions against the people’s will. Not only are the state and central governments violating laws, they are creating additional losses to the exchequer at huge cost to the local people!

• The recent arrests of PPSS activists by the state are clear indication of the coercion and violence that the state is resorting to have its way with the rightful lands and resources of the local people. We demand:

• Revoke the in-principle approval to POSCO SEZ and denotify it immediately!

• Release all local villagers arrested for peacefully opposing POSCO SEZ immediately!
• Withdraw all police force from the area and refrain from using force and intimidating people to push forceful land acquisition!

• Conduct independent fact-finding and document the violence, repression and coercion that the villagers in the POSCO area have been facing since the inception of the project!

• Provide clear compensation for the damages and losses of life and livelihood to the locals!
• No further approvals should be granted to the project on environment and forest related grounds due to the gross undermining of regulatory processes!

Endorsed by:

1. Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey, Shankar Singh, Bhanwar Meghwanshi, MKSS 
2. Medha Patkar, Narmada Bachao Andolan - National Alliance of People's Movements
3. Prafulla Samantara, NAPM  
4. Prashant Bhushan, Supreme Court Advocate
5. EAS Sarma, Former Union Power Secretary 
6. Sandeep Pandey, Lok Rajniti Manch
7. Vidya Dinker, Citizens Forum for Mangalore Development 
8. Ulka Mahajan, Sarvahara Jan Andolan 
9. Mukta Srivastava, Anna Adhikar Abhiyan - NAPM
10. Preeti Sampat
11. Subhash Gatade, New Socialist Initiative
12. Gabriele Dietrich, NAPM
13. Arundhati Dhuru, NAPM
14. Vimal bhai, NAPMKanchi Kohli
15. Mahtab Alam 
16. Usha Seethalakshmi 
17. Simpreet Singh 
18. Sanjeev Kumar 
19. Mamata Dash 
20. Asit Das, POSCO Pratirodh Solidarity, Delhi
21. Madhuresh Kumar, NAPM 
22. Seela Mahapatra, NAPM
23. Madhumita Dutta, Researcher
24. Sandeep Kumar Pattnaik, National Center for Advocacy Studies

Organizational Endorsements: 

1.  Citizens Forum for Mangalore Development 
2. Karavali Karnataka Janabhivriddhi Vedike 
3. Krishi Bhoomi Samrakshana Samithi
4. Sarvahara Jan Andolan
5. Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan
6. National Alliance of People's Movements 
7. Sanhati 

Falling between two stools

BRP Bhaskar
Gulf Today

The buglers are proclaiming a victory for India at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, held in Rio de Janeiro, last week but non-government organisations campaigning on the issue of sustainable development are unimpressed.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh flew into Brazil from the G-20 meeting in Mexico where, playing Santa Claus, he had pledged $10 billion towards the $73 billion committed by the BRIC nations to recapitalise the International Monetary Fund to enable it to bail out crisis-hit Europe.

At Rio, he appeared like a mendicant rather than a philanthropist. He complained there was little evidence of industrialised world helping the developing nations to find the resources and technology they need to reduce the intensity of emissions.

The conference, dubbed Rio+20 as it was taking place two decades after the Earth Summit held in that city, brought together leaders from more than 180 countries. India was a key player at the 1992 conference as the chief spokesman of the developing world. A major achievement of that meet was the Climate Change Convention, which led to the Kyoto Protocol.

Rio+20 took place in vastly different circumstances from what prevailed at the time of the first meet. The average annual global temperature was up by 0.32 degree Celsius, global carbon dioxide levels were 10 per cent higher and primary forests had dwindled by 300 million hectares. What is more, the rich nations’ interest in protection of the environment had waned as their economies declined.

India appeared to be not too sure where exactly it stood. As Sejal Worah, World Wildlife Fund’s project director in Delhi, put it, India was straddling both sides — the rich as well as the developing nations. “We have not heard of India being on any side,” she told reporters at Rio. “It is losing its leadership edge. It is always riding on someone else. We don’t stand for anything.”

Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan said India was happy that no specific goals and targets had been agreed upon. Environment journalist Daryl D’Monte termed her comment astonishing.

India’s diminished role at Rio II is a reflection of the dichotomy in the government’s approach to developmental problems. Its record in upholding the principles laid down at Rio I is less than satisfactory.

“Human beings are at the centre of concern for human development,” the first Rio declaration had said. “They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature.” An agreement concluded at that time directed governments not to carry out any activities on the lands of indigenous people that would cause environmental degradation or be culturally inappropriate.

Yet all across India the government is endangering the lives and livelihood of the indigenous people, who live in subhuman conditions, by permitting domestic and foreign corporations to grab their lands for industrial projects. In Orissa, for seven years tribesmen have been fighting an unequal battle with the South Korean giant Posco, which wants to set up the world’s largest steel plant in their homeland.

Disappointed with the draft of the declaration prepared for adoption at the summit meeting, Indian NGO representatives gathered at Rio issued an open appeal to Manmohan Singh to display bold leadership and rescue the conference. They asked him to advocate strong fundamental principles for the world and make basic changes in economic and other policies back home.

It turned out to be a cry in the wilderness. “We are reiterating the mistakes of the past while the crisis has worsened,” Ashish Kothari of Pune-based Kalpavriksh said later.

The official claims of victory rest primarily on a few passages in the platitudinous declaration, grandiloquently titled “The Future We Want.” It says all countries, especially the developing nations, need additional resources to ensure sustainable development and unwanted conditionalities on development assistance must be avoided.

The declaration asks all countries to prioritise sustainable development and allocate resources based on national needs. It also talks in vague terms about giving assistance to the developing countries to ensure long-term debt sustainability.

The G-77 countries and China sought $30 billion a year for assisting the developing nations but the document makes no firm financial commitment. Instead, it suggests that additional resources be mobilised on a voluntary basis through innovative financing mechanisms.

In a joint letter to the UN, a group of international civil society organisations said: “The Future We Want is not what resulted from the Rio+20 negotiation process.” -- Gulf Today, Sharjah, June 26, 2012.

The struggle for survival

BRP Bhaskar
Gulf Today

Belying dark prophecies of the likes of Winston Churchill, India has survived as a political entity. Overcoming the global economic downturn, it has survived as a vibrant economic unit. But the challenges it is facing on the environmental front are proving to be tougher than the political and economic challenges.

There has been large-scale destruction of forests since the country gained freedom 65 years ago, mostly due to illegal felling of trees by commercial interests enjoying political patronage. The verdant states of Jammu and Kashmir in the north, Assam in the northeast and Kerala in the south are among the worst affected.

The latest official figures put India’s forest and tree cover at 78.29 million hectares, or 23.81 per cent of the geographical area. The government’s current policy envisages raising the forest cover to 33 per cent.

According to Director-General of Forests PJ Dilip Kumar, structural changes in the economy are needed to achieve the target. When more people migrate from villages to cities the fallow agricultural lands left behind by them can be used to grow forests, he says.

The official’s calculations are too simplistic. The developmental process that will create jobs and attract villagers to the cities will actually shrink the forest cover further, widening the gap to be filled. Many mega projects now in various stages of implementation are based on exploitation of natural resources located in forests or other ecologically sensitive areas. People living in these areas are already up in arms against the projects saying they threaten their lives and livelihood.

According to the latest ‘state of the forest’ report, in the last two years there was a net loss of 367 square kilometres of forest. Half of it was in the Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh.

Environmental Secretary T Chatterjee attributes depletion of Khammam forests to felling of eucalyptus by the paper pulp industry and clearance of forests by Left-wing extremists. The explanation is specious. Replanting goes on simultaneously with harvesting in plantations serving the paper industry. More than Left-wing extremists, who want places to hide in, it is the security forces, who are looking for them, that need to clear forests. 

Large-scale destruction of forests took place in the colonial period as the British administration, while laying railway lines, felled trees to make sleepers. The depredation yielded some unexpected dividends: the ruins of the Indus Valley civilisation at Mohenjo-Daro, now in Pakistan, and the Buddhist relics at Sanchi, in Madhya Pradesh, came to light.

Recognising the need to preserve the forest wealth, the British later initiated conservation measures. After their departure, things became lax, especially at the state level, and vested interests caused extensive damage with the connivance of corrupt political and bureaucratic elements.   

Prime minister Indira Gandhi, on her return from the 1972 Stockholm summit, initiated legislative and administrative measures to protect the environment. Her son and successor, Rajiv Gandhi, took steps to tackle the problem of pollution of the river Ganga, which sustains life in a large part of the country.

Globalisation threw out of gear even the weak implementation of the laws in force. The Report to the People on Environment and Forests, which the government released recently, paints a dismal picture of urban India, which is growing fast and expected to absorb millions of people from the villages in the coming decades.

The report admits that a critical deficiency exists in most cities in terms of facilities for collection, processing and disposal of waste. Existing facilities have the capacity to treat only 35 per cent of about 6.23 million tonnes of hazardous industrial waste generated annually. E-waste is currently estimated at 800,000 tonnes. Sixty per cent of it is generated by 65 cities. The Ganga continues to be a polluted river.

There is nothing in the report to indicate that the government has an action plan to tackle the serious urban problems it has identified. Much of it, of course, is beyond the power of the government at the Centre as the matter falls within the realm of the state governments and the urban and rural local bodies. They lack the resources to formulate and implement suitable schemes.

In the global debate on climate change, India, along with China, has been resisting the attempt by the rich nations to force reduction in carbon emissions, arguing it will hamper its developmental efforts. It has to look at the problem not only in terms of catching up with the developed world but also in terms of ensuring the survival of a large section of its own population.

Jawaharlal Nehru once asked, “If India dies, who lives?” Lopsided developmental priorities which threaten the environment invest these words with a new meaning.--Gulf Today, May 29, 2012,

POSCO project: Ask your MPs to intervene

On behalf of the communities affected by the POSCO project in Odisha (Orissa) the Environment Support Group team, in a statement issued on Thursday, appealed to all to ask their MPs to take up the cause of the villagers who have been resisting the
project peacefully for six years.

The following is the text of the statement:

We share with you the horrible news of a dastardly attack on the people of Jagatsinghpur district in Orissa earlier today. These communities have been peacefully resisting for over six years the proposed POSCO project: the single largest steel-power-mining-township-port infrastructure project conceived in recent decades.

Absolutely designed to loot the natural iron ore wealth of the country to support the prospects of POSCO, a South Korean enterprise predominantly held by American corporations and wealthy individuals including Warren Buffet, this project will destroy some of the most sensitive coastal and forest ecosystems of Orissa, and simultaneously decimate the livelihoods of thousands of natural resource dependent families.

Former Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh controversially approved the project's environmental clearance, even when the expert committees that he appointed advised him against it. The experts had argued on carefully constructed grounds that all evidence provided by Orissa Government and POSCO to justify the project's positive outcomes were found to be comprehensively wrong. Even so, Mr. Ramesh justified his highly questionable and controversial stand by claiming that the project served the "strategic" interests of India, admitting as well that he was under pressure from the Prime Minister of India and Chief Minister of Orissa.

The High Court of Orissa was approached subsequently to set right the wrongs committed by the Central and State governments, as they had effectively created a "rightless people" out of the communities affected by POSCO's investment. But the Hon'ble Principal Bench which heard the matter over three weeks chose not to intervene in an interim direction. Several months later, final arguments on pending cases are yet to be initiated.

The consequence has been that communities who have been justly resisting this absolutely scandalous project, and peacefully so for over six years now, have been repeatedly attacked by goons. This while the police and Government representatives have simply stood by and watched.

Abhay Sahu, the leader of the resistance, was recently arrested on several trumped up charges (at least three dozens of cases have been falsely filed against him), and he languishes today in prison. This is the second time that he has been so jailed; the previous time he was in prison for 11 months based on trumped up charges that he is a threat to the nation.

Earlier today, over 500 goons have attacked the hapless women, children, youth, the elderly and the men with weapons and bombs injuring many. At least one is dead, apparently one of the goons. Once more the police watched all this without intervening to protect women and children, and the elderly, and to establish order.
As people across the nation work to rid it of corruption, it must be realized that the worst form of corruption is to engage in violence against peaceful communities who are only fighting for their just rights and for the protection of wildlife and the environment. Any amount of economic development is simply not worth the price if it creates more poor, destroys sensitive ecosytems and benefits foreign corporations and the 1% of the world who are wealthy. In addition, such projects only benefit those with overseas slush accounts to our common detriment.
It is time we troubled the conscience of each and every Member of the Parliament to raise this issue in the august body which is now in session. They are duty bound to ensure that the Orissa Government backs off the POSCO project and saves Orissa and the country from loot and plunder of non-renewable iron ore and destruction of thousands of livelihoods of natural resource dependent communities and wildlife, which the POSCO investment comprehensively represents.

You can find the contact details of your MPs by clicking their name at the following links:

Lok Sabha: http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/Members/Alphabaticallist.aspx
Rajya Sabha: http://164.100.47.5/Newmembers/memberlist.aspx

Ask the MPs to raise the issue in Parliament. Urge them to pressure the Chief Minister of Orissa and Prime Minister to stop the dastardly attacks on communities resisting POSCO. Demand that they ask the government to scrap the POSCO project to protect the economic and ecological security of India. Ask them to demand stern action against the goons who attacked the villagers, and those in the police and Orissa administration who actively and complicitly supported them.

Please spare some time and call up your newspaper and TV channel and urge them to cover the issue, actively, as actively as they have covered the debates on the need for the Lokpal Bill.

And please spare some more time and write to the PM and all others as the POSCO Prathirodh Sangram Samiti has requested.

To know why you should oppose the POSCO investment, please see "Tearing through the Water Landscape: Evaluating the environmental and social consequences of POSCO project in Odisha, India" accessible at: www.esgindia.org

See also two earlier posts in this blog:

A statement by concerned citizens

POSCO’s Orissa project: an Open Letter

Green Warrior on the retreat

BRP Bhaskar
Gulf Today

Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, who had earned the praise of activists by seeking strict enforcement of forest and environment laws, last week gave the go-ahead for two controversial projects, reversing his earlier decisions, apparently under pressure.

On May 2 he allowed Odisha (formerly Orissa) to make available 1,253 hectares of forest land to South Korea’s Pohang Iron and Steel Company (Posco), which is to set up a giant steel plant in the state. Land acquisition for the project had been stopped in August 2009 after he directed that there should be no diversion of forest land in violation of the Forest Rights Act.

On Friday he lifted the stop-work order issued to the Maheshwar Hydel Power Corporation Ltd last year as its promoters had not complied with the conditions of environmental clearance, especially those relating to relief and rehabilitation of persons affected by the project.

The Maheshwar dam is part of the massive Narmada Valley development project which provides for the construction of 30 large and 135 medium-sized dams. The project has been at the centre of a decades-long agitation by the displaced tribal population under the banner of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save Narmada Movement).

Jairam Ramesh’s new order refers to many letters Madhya Pradesh’s Bharatiya Janata Party Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan and former Congress Chief Minister Digvijay Singh had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urging continuance of the project. It also mentions a series of review meetings convened by the Prime Minister’s Office. This indicates that he has issued the order under relentless pressure.

Environmentalists have charged that the centre with clearing the two projects on the strength of false declarations made by the states about relief and rehabilitation.

The Posco plant will deprive about 50,000 farmers of Jagatsinghpur, Keonjhar and Sundargarh areas of their means of livelihood. One of the large dams under the Narmada project, the Maheshwar dam is expected to displace about 35,000 people.

The agitations against the two schemes have attracted international attention. Civil society groups in South Korea are among those who have extended support to the movement against the Posco project. The US power utility Ogden Energy Group, which was to have funded 49 per cent of the equity for the Maheshwar dam, had pulled out in 2000 in view of the widespread local opposition. It was the fourth investor group to withdraw from the project.

Campaign for Survival and Dignity, a civil society group backing Adivasi movements in the country, has pointed out that the new order relating to the Posco project is against the Supreme Court-appointed committee’s recommendation that, instead of making piecemeal allocation, the land required for the steel plant and for mining must be assessed and a decision taken on land diversion after considering the impact on ecology and the rehabilitation and resettlement plan.

India enacted a series of laws to protect its forests and the environment at the instance of prime minister Indira Gandhi immediately after the Stockholm summit of 1972, which she had attended. However, corporate promoters of projects found it easy to bribe their way out of their legal obligations. The state governments often ignored the agonised cries of forest-dwellers and environmental activists. Appeals to the judiciary, too, yielded only partial relief.

Jairam Ramesh, on becoming minister in charge of Environment and Forests in May 2009, initiated a series of steps which gave rise to hopes of strict implementation of laws. While environmentalists began to look upon him as one fighting on their side, the development-at-any-cost school dubbed him a “green fundamentalist.”

Ironically, the Green Warrior has beaten a retreat even as the government claims to be pushing for tight controls. Last week the central government said in future it would not give environmental clearance for mining and industrial projects needing more than 40 hectares of forest land unless the promoters first obtained a certificate from the forest department stating how much forest would be diverted.

India, striving to catch up with the advanced nations, needs to remember that it is working under different conditions. The United States has about 30 per cent area under forest, as against 21 per cent in India. Its population density is only 34 per square kilometre as against India’s 324 per sq km. China, with a population density of 140 per sq km, is trying to raise its forest cover of 18 per cent to 26 per cent by 2050. --Gulf Today, Sharjah, May 9, 2011.

POSCO's Orissa project: an Open Letter

The following is an Open Letter from the National Centre for Advocacy Studies and Posco Prathirodh Sangram Samiti to POSCO TJ Park Prize Committee, POSCO TZ Park Foundation, Seoul, Korea.

Dear Sir,

We, people from India and different parts of the world concerned with the protection of human and environmental rights, have learned that 2006 onwards POSCO TJ Park Prize has been awarding an individual or organization its Community Development & Philanthropy Prize. This gives us reason to believe that as an organization, POSCO is concerned about community development and has respect for human rights and social justice initiatives.

We therefore find it ironic that POSCO is simultaneously perpetrating severe human rights violations and threatening people's livelihoods, specifically in Jagatsinghpur, Orissa, and the livelihoods of more than 20,000 people are at risk due to POSCO’s US$ 12 billion plan to build a 12 million tonne per annum (MTPA) integrated steel plant, captive port and mines. This plant will require 4,004 acres of land, in addition to land for a railway, road expansion and mine development. The land earmarked for this purpose has been used for generations by Dalits, agriculturalists, workers and small businesses. These people will lose their homes and livelihoods as result of this project.

Against the establishment of the POSCO power plant and port, over 800 individuals from the affected areas joined together to march 150 km in protest from November 29 to December 5, 2009. The proposed steel plant is predicted to have devastating impacts on the environment and ecology in the area.

POSCO has applied for prospecting licences and direct leases for mining. The licence would allow the company to mine on 2,500 hectares in iron ore rich Khandadhar in Sundergarh district. These areas are currently covered with dense forest, which is home to a wide variety of wildlife and flora. The indigenous communities living there are totally dependent on these forests for fuel, fodder, fruits and medicinal plants. The water springs that exist there provide water for drinking as well as irrigation. Furthermore, the mining will affect the Khandadhar waterfall, a famed tourist destination in the state.

Various reports have indicated that there is a grave medical emergency developing in the Erasama and Kujanga blocks of Jagatsinghpur district, the sites of the proposed steel plant. A number of women in the area are in late stages of pregnancy but are unable to access the medical care they require because of the fear of harassment and arrest by the local police. There is also severe malnutrition among children living in these districts. In part, this is a result of poor economic turnover due to the turmoil that has been present in the area over the past few years as a result of the project. The general population of the affected villages also needs help in combating malaria. These people cannot go out and receive treatment because of the threat of arrests.

In keeping with the points outlined above, we strongly urge that you, as independent Committee members, immediately look into the matter with an open mind and urge POSCO Company to withdraw from the proposed project in order to respect and protect the rights and livelihood of the indigenous people and save the rich environment and bio diversity in the state of Orissa, India.

As fellow people interested in community welfare and philanthropy, we would also request that you seriously reconsider your position as committee members for the TJ Park Prize.

We are attaching herewith the following annexure, showing the impact of proposed captive plant, port and mining by POSCO Company on the life and livelihoods of indigenous people and the rich environment and ecology of the area.

With regards,
Yours sincerely,

Pramodini Pradhan
Convenor (PUCL- Bhubaneswar)

Official statistics indicate that only 438 acres of the 4000 acres required for the POSCO site is private land. The rest of the land required officially belongs to the government, and this has been recorded as “under forest” in official documentation. Government records do not show that the majority of this land has been under cultivation by the people living in these areas for generations.

The people of Jagatsinghpur are dependent upon the beetle, paddy and fish for their livelihoods. Around 30,000 families earn about INR one lakh (about USD 2000) yearly from these cultivations. There are approximately 5000 vines of beetle in the three panchayat areas, which are tended by about 10,000 cultivators. Many landless families depend on basket making, work as daily labourers on the betel vine farms or are engaged in pisiculture, mostly prawns.

In response to the claim of this land by POSCO, the local people have submitted applications for claims on titles repeatedly however regularization and settlement of the betel vine lands has not yet been initiated by the government. The Settlement record was prepared last in 1984.

POSCO began its operations in India by registering POSCO-India. The first attempt by the district administration to acquire land for the proposed plant and port was thwarted by strong local opposition, which began in early 2006 under the banner of 'POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti' (PPSS) (Anti-POSCO People’s Movement), based in Dhinkia village.

Scarcity of water for Irrigation

The volume of water required for the project is predicted to have a detrimental impact on water irrigation for the local population. According to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the Government of Orissa is to permit draw and use of water (near about 12 thousand to 15 thousand crore liters) from the Mahanadi barrage at Jobra and Naraj in Cuttack for construction and operation of the “Overall Project”.

Concerns have been repeatedly raised over the past two years by citizens of the area and technical experts that this would severely impact the drinking and agricultural water supply of Cuttack and neighboring four districts. These concerns have not been addressed by the government yet.

Destruction of the Environment and threat to Gahirmala Marine Sanctuary

The proposed port to be built by POSCO at Jatadhari (Estuarine region of Ersamma) has also evoked environment concerns of damage to the coastline Conservationists. They have pointed out that any damage to the coastline by the construction of the port could pose a threat to the nesting habitat of the endangered Olive Ridley turtles. Especially at risk are the turtle-nesting beaches in the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary, where nearly 400,000 Olive Ridleys come to nest every year.

Environmental research has shown that the nesting turtles are already threatened by illegal mechanized fishing, rapid loss of nesting beaches due to casuarinas plantations and industrial pollution. The proposed POSCO port poses a fresh threat. The port if built would also directly displace the livelihoods of several fishing communities as the Jatadhari estuary serves as a spawning and breeding ground for several species of fish. The recent analysis report prepared by Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report of POSCO Captive port at Jatadhar Mohan Creek Paradeep Port points out that the “EIA report has completely missed out on addressing the issues of cumulative impact on people and habitat residing in the close vicinity as well as the land where the project is proposed”[4].

Implication of proposed mining in Khandadhar hills

The mining sites which have been proposed in the district of Keonjhar are also predicted to have detrimental impacts. Communities within these areas are already suffering under the social and environmental impacts of large-scale mining activity. Health problems are rampant in the region, particularly amongst the mine workers and their children. The poor health status of the mine workers and the increasing incidence of waterborne and respiratory diseases have been highlighted in a recent 'State of the Environment’ report.

The Khandadhar hills where POSCO is being allotted the mines, spread over 6000 hectares, are covered with forests, inhabited by a wide variety of wildlife and as well as flora. The adivasi (Indigenous people) communities, which form 74% of the population in the surrounding area will be severely impacted by the proposed mining.

Ongoing Human Rights Violations

Over the past four years, there have been a number of allegations of government repression from the local community. Local anti-POSCO activists have stated that the Government has filed several false cases against them, and that POSCO has been working to suppress the movement. In October 2008, the leader of anti POSCO movement, Mr.Abhaya Sahoo was arrested and 32 “false cases” were charged against him. To date, the movement has been democratic and non-violent, however, a recently released video reflects that Mr. Abhaya is being kept against his will by the government. You can view this video online at the following link www.youtube.com/watch?v=px3d52vTEuM

For more information, you can visit the following links:
http://stoposco.wordpress.com/
http://www.freewebs.com/epgorissa/posco.htm
http://www.ncasindia.org/public/GGG/series08.pdf

For further information, please contact
Prashant Paikray, Spokesperson, Posco Prathirodh Sangram Samiti (Anti-POSCO People’s Movement)
Email: prashantpaikray@gmail.com

Overconsumption and profiting without producing are the problems

Two articles circulated by Countercurrents today focus attention on issues that the media often overlooks in discussing the environmental and economic crises that the world is facing.

One is “Consumption dwarfs population as main environmental threat” by Fred Pearce (picture on right), London-based writer and environment and development consultant. It appeared in The Guardian today.

Overconsumption, not overpopulation is driving environmental destruction, says Pearce. It is hubris to downgrade the culpability of the rich world's environmental footprint because generations of poor people not yet born might one day get to be as rich and destructive as us, he argues.

The world's population quadrupled to six billion people during the 20th century. It is still rising and may reach 9 billion by 2050. Yet for at least the past century, rising per-capita incomes have outstripped the rising head count several times over. And while incomes don't translate precisely into increased resource use and pollution, the correlation is distressingly strong.

The other article is “Profiting without producing by Marcos Arruda(left), Brazilian economist and educator and Fellow of the Transnational Institute.

The world today is wealthier than ever – and more unequal, says Arruda. Something is rotten in the kingdom of Capital. Remember first that, while investors in their millions suffer the terrors of a financial crisis, the impoverished peoples of the Earth – in their billions – endure a daily routine of chronic crisis for lack of access to goods and the means of production or to the essentials of a worthwhile human life, i.e. food, energy, pleasurable work, time to develop their potential, a decent standard of living, and social and ecological relations that are friendly, secure, gratifying and lasting.

While millions face poverty and hunger, others make fortunes without producing. A sustainable alternative to financial globalisation must be based on international cooperation and solidarity - with new indicators in place to measure well-being.

Links to the articles:

“Consumption dwarfs population as main environmental threat” by Fred Pearce

“Profiting without producing” by Marcos Arruda

Focus on deteriorating global environment

Countercurrents circulated today three pieces, published by leading newspapers, which draw attention to the deteriorating global environment.

Brief write-ups on the stories and links to them are provided below:

Global Warming Even Worse Than Previously Thought
By Michael McCarthy

http://www.countercurrents.org/mccarthy130309.htm

Lord Stern, the economist who produced the single most influential political document on climate change, says he underestimated the risks of global warming and the damage that could result from it. The situation was worse than he had thought when he completed his review two-and-a-half years ago, he told a conference yesterday, but politicians do not yet grasp the scale of the dangers now becoming apparent

Severe Global warming Will Render Half Of
World's Inhabited Areas Unlivable
By David Adam

http://www.countercurrents.org/adam130309.htm

Severe global warming could make half the world's inhabited areas literally too hot to live in, a US scientist warned today. Parts of China, India and the eastern US could all become too warm in summer for people to lose heat by sweating - rendering such areas effectively uninhabitable

UN Warns Of Widespread Water Shortages
By Martin Mittelstaedt

http://www.countercurrents.org/mittelstaedt130309.htm

The world faces a bleak future over its dwindling water supplies, with pollution, climate change and rapidly growing populations raising the possibility of widespread shortages, a new report compiled by 24 agencies of the United Nations says