Amnesty International warned on Friday that about 2,000 Indian Farmers could lose their livelihoods in the next month if a proposed $12 billion steel plant operation involving POSCO goes ahead.
The Indian authorities have given POSCO conditional clearance to establish a steel plant and port operation on about 4,000 hectares of land in the coastal Jagatsinghpur district of the eastern state of Orissa. It would be India’s biggest foreign direct investment project, The Muslim News reported.
The area includes land on which local farmers are dependent for their livelihoods, and to which they may have rights under Indian law.
The report from Amnesty International said the potential impacts on local communities could be devastating. Some 2,000 people could lose access to common lands and face destitution if the authorities fail to act.
“The authorities and POSCO much carry out a comprehensive human rights and environmental impact assessment of the project, in consultation with residents, and ensure that no work begins on the project until the residents’ rights are protected.
Since June 2005, local communities in Jagatsinghpur district have protested the possible displacement and potential threats to their livelihoods from the POSCO project.
Protestors have erected barricades in the area and prevented officials from entering three villages. In June 2008, one protestor, Dual Mandal, was killed in by a bomb during a clash between critics and supporters of the project.
In May 2010 at least 20 protesters sustained gunshot wounds when police used excessive force against them. Protests have intensified during February 2011, The News added.
Investigations were conducted by India’s Ministry of Environment and Forest in 2010 and they concluded that the Orissa state authorities had failed to settle community claims over common forest lands.
They also stated that the proposed steel project had violated national environmental laws and coastal regulations and failed to adequately assess the potential negative impact of the mega project on the livelihoods of the local communities.
Despite these findings it appears that the Ministry is set to allow the project to go ahead as long as Orissa state authorities can confirm that no local communities have rights to the land under the Forest Rights Act 2008.
Amnesty International had campaigned extensively for the rights of local people of Orissa to be respected.
(아주경제 송지영 기자)
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com