Posco project: Amid betel vines, Orissa villages draw battle lines

On 5 June, the world celebrated Environment Day. Two days prior to that, 17 people were arrested and beaten up for obstructing land acquisition for the Rs 51,000-crore Posco project in Orissa, which locals fear would cause large-scale damage to the ecosystem in their area. Predictably, in Dhinkia and Govindpur, the Ground Zero of anti-Posco agitation, the situation is tense. Actually, it’s a state of war. Locals are on 24X7 alert, keeping vigil along village borders; the police are ready to move in. As the government readies itself to resume land acquisition for the controversial steel project on Saturday in Govindpur, fingers remain crossed on the shape it would take. [caption id=“attachment_27562” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=" Stir to protest forcible land acquisition intensifies at Gobindpur village. Image Courtesy: POSCO pratirodh Sangram Samiti"] [/caption] On 2 May, in a move at odds with the Forest Rights Act, Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh gave the go-ahead for the diversion of 3,000 acres of forest land for the Posco project. It was a huge disappointment for the local communities who have been protesting peacefully against the project for the past six years. Ramesh’s decision does not take into account the controversial iron ore mining component proposed in the forested Kandadhar region, which is now under litigation. It must also be noted that Jagatsinghpur historically has been the centre of intense cyclones and is considered unsafe for shipping and industrial activities. But the environment ministry has ignored the danger signals. Moreover, the tranquil life of the locals will come to an end as smoke, ash and dust billows around them from the towering steel plant. [caption id=“attachment_27568” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“An attempt to rebuild the demolished betel vines. Image courtesy: POSCO pratirodh Sangram Samiti”] [/caption] But the important factor here is not the urgency with which Ramesh gave the green light for the mega mining project or the fact that the his own investigative committee, which recommended that clearances granted must be cancelled as they were obtained by fraud and in violation of various forest rights, was ridiculed, but the fact that an issue which has been silently protested by almost 2,000 local tribesmen goes unheard, whereas the cry to bring back black money and award death penalty to all those accused of corruption has the entire nation in an uproar. Since Friday, the Posco agitation has intensified. Children are being used as human shields to prevent police forces from entering the village. Lying down under the blazing sun, these children refuse to budge to allow government officials to grab their land and villages for the Posco mega project. According to an activist of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), more than 4,000 villagers including, women and children, are camping on the outskirts of the village to face any eventuality. Dhinkia is only one of the gram panchayats where Posco has proposed to set up its 12 million tonne steel plant. The other two panchayats — Gadakujanga and Nuagaon — where the mega project is to be set up, did not oppose the demolition of betel vines ahead of the land grab.Of the 4,004 acres required to set up the project, 2,700 acres falls in Dhinkia. The district administration had deployed 24 police platoons on Friday to destroy the betel vines ahead of the land acquisition. But villagers resisted the move by forming a three-tier human barricade, even as any assembly of people was declared unlawful. Why are six-year-olds part of the struggle? They may not be fully aware of what they are up against right now. They are part of a serious development vs. environment battle, a recurring problem that is echoing across the country.

Posco project: Amid betel vines, Orissa villages draw battle lines

Dhinkia and Govindpur, the Ground Zero of anti-Posco agitation, is in a state of war. But six-year olds are agitating in a serious development vs. environment battle, a recurring problem that is echoing across the country.

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