Action Alert: PPSS fears repression; appeal for solidarity

Dear friends:

We need your help urgently. As many of you are aware, the Korean Steel giant, POSCO (Pohang Steel) is touted to be moving forward with its plans building a steel mill in Jagatsingpura in north-east Orissa. The mill, also involves mining at Keonjhar and a new port just north of Paradip. In all, over 30 villages are targets for forced displacement and have been in continuous protest in one form or the other for the last two years or more under the leadership of the POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti. Currently the govt of Orissa has issued a Feb 10th deadline on filing for compensation and there has been a rapid build of police forces over the last 48 hours. A PPSS dharana is in its second week now and the threat of an attack on the people and forced entry into the lands and occupation by govt forces looms large. Please call the Chief Minister Orissa – Naveen Panaik and the Chief Sect Environments and Forest Govt of Orissa, Mr U N Behara ASAP. Ask them to immediately stop all plans of forced occupation of land and instead seek the immediate implementation of the Forest Rights Act. Remind them that the project will effect both adivasis and non adivasis, a delicate eco system with a rumenurative betel leaf cultivation system and a unified movement against POSCO.

We would like to hear the responses and so write back to us with a brief note on the response. Attached below is a Press Release from PPSS and a brief article that appeared in the mainstream press three days ago. ONCE AGAIN, Please make ur calls ASAP. Best time to cal would be 10 30 Pm — 7 AM.

CALL:
Naveen Patnaik
Cm, Orissa
Tel. No.(O) 011 91 674 2531100,011 91 674 2535100,
011 91 674 2531500, Epbax 2163
Tel. No.(R) 011 91 674 2590299, 011 91 674 2591099,
011 91 674 2590844, 011 91 674 2591100,

CALL:
U N Behara
Principal Sect Environment and Forests
Phone: 011 91 674 2595503 / 011 91 674 2536822

——————

PRESS RELEASE:
URGENT! Fear of attack on Anti-POSCO movement

Balitutha, Orissa: The threat of state and company sponsored violence
looms large over hundreds of farmers sitting on an indefinite dharna
at Balitutha in Jagatsinghpur district against the Orissa government’s
pet POSCO steel project.

Since 26 January this year the farmers have been carrying out their
peaceful protest against fresh attempts by the Naveen Patnaik regime
to acquire their land on behalf of the South Korean steel corporation.

“We are expecting police action any time soon including an attack on
our leader Abhay Sahoo by goons hired by the company,” said a
spokesperson of the POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samithi (PPSS), which has
spearheaded the agitation against the project for the past five years.

Over 30,000 farmers are expected to lose their lands and livelihood if
the US$12 billion project, billed as India’s largest Foreign Direct
Investment, is implemented. POSCO signed an MoU with the Orissa
government in mid-2005, for the setting up of an integrated steel and
power plant, a private port and mining of over 600 million tonnes of
Orissa’s high grade iron ore.

For the steel and power plants alone the project needs around 4004
acres, of which 3566 acres is government owned forest and revenue land
but 438 acres belongs to local farmers who are refusing to part with
it. The PPSS apprehends that over 25 platoons of police are being
brought in to surround the farmers sitting on dharna at Balitutha,
which is at the entrance to the land that belongs to them.

As per a letter issued by the Collector of Jagatsinghpur District on
January 19 this year Palli Sabhas in the project area have been asked
to obtain approval of local bodies about the ‘diversion of their lands
under forest category to POSCO’ by February 10th. On February 3
however, at a meeting of Palli Sabha of Nuagaon village all the 700
participants unanimously disapproved of the move. In a resolution
passed at the Palli Sabha they said that such lands were being used
by people for cultivation and housing since last 300 years and in no
case they can be handed over to POSCO. Other Palli Sabhas in the area
are expected to pass similar resolutions.

PPSS activists say, faced with the firm opposition to the POSCO
project and land acquisition the Orissa adminstration is getting
desperate and plans to remove the farmers by force. On February 1 the
state government issued a notice in various newspapers that if the
people fail to file their claims for compensation within fifteen
days, they will get nothing at all.

The PPSS dharna has found support around the country with leaders of
trade unions and people’s movements visiting the protestors sitting on
dharna. Those participating in the dharna include leaders of leaders
of the All India Trade Union Congress from different states and the
Orissa Bidi Workers and Domestic Workers Associations.

For further information contact:

Prashant Paikray, spokesperson, PPSS at Ph: (0) 9437571547.

Letter to Environment minister demanding immediate withdrawal of clearance granted

6^th January 2010

To
Shri Jairam Ramesh
Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment and Forests
Paryavaran Bhavan, CGO Complex
New Delhi-110003

Dear Sir,

Sub: Grant of Final (Stage II) Forest Clearance to POSCO for proposed Steel Plant in Jagatsinghpur in Orissa – demand for immediate withdrawal of any clearance granted

As you are aware amongst the many projects in Orissa requiring ‘Forest Lands’ is POSCO’s 12 million TPA integrated steel plant project to be set up in Jagatsinghpur. News reports that the final clearance has been awarded to this project are indeed a matter of serious concern considering that the 2900 acres of land, the diversion of which has been given a clearance, is a contested domain, with community claims over the area. The following facts have been completely overlooked by the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) and MoEF, while granting the clearance:

1- Displacement of Livelihoods: The total land area sanctioned by the state government for the proposed project is 1,620 hectares, of which 1,426 hectares is government land and the rest private land. While the private land in question, pretty tiny in size, is mostly under paddy cultivation, the government land, 87% of which is under the jurisdiction of the forest department, has been under betel vine and cashew cultivation for decades, apart from having over 2 lakh casuarina, neem and mango trees and other coastal scrub. The diversion of this land would mean displacing the livelihoods of 471 families in the region apart from a complete destruction of the coastal ecosystem. The staunch opposition to the project as well as the diversion of forest land has been brought to the attention of the FAC before. (annexure: earlier petitions)

2- Violation of FRA 2006: The Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest-Dwellers Recognition of Forest Rights Act, was enacted in 2006 and the rules for the Act were notified in January 2008. The Act provides for settlement of rights by recognising the right of forest-dwellers to occupy, cultivate, use and protect areas within which they were residing before December 13, 2005. The Government of Orissa (GoO) is yet to initiate and complete the process of recognition of forest rights in the 2900 acres of land which has been diverted. This is a complete violation of the Forest Rights Act 2006. In March 2008 the palli sabha in Dhinkia had already passed a resolution citing sections 3(1)(i), 4(5) and 5 of the FRA and declaring that they did not consent to any proposed diversion.

3- Contravention of MoEF’s 30th July Circular: In keeping with the circular issued by the MoEF on 30th July 2009, the forest clearance to the project should not be given because the process of settlement of rights under the FRA 2006 is still not initiated therefore indicating non-compliance. The letter in no uncertain terms requires the consent of the Gram Sabhas prior to grant of any final clearances. No such consent has been obtained by POSCO, this violating the provisions of MoEF’s own advisory.

4- Mining Component related clearance reduced to a formality: The project proponent has also proposed for setting up of its mines (which is a component linked to this project) over 6000 hectares of forests in the Khandadhar region of Sundergarh. The same issues raised above are applicable there considering that about 12 panchayats would be affected. The indigenous Paudi Bhuiyan tribes reside here and have been depending on these forests for centuries for their survival. It seems that if a forest clearance is granted to the steel plant component, the same will eventually be done for the mines which are the integral component of the project. Hence the clearances for the mines have been reduced to a mere formality.

Based on the above we the undersigned reiterate that the diversion of Forest land towards the POSCO project is completely illegal and demand that the Forest Clearance granted to the project be immediately withdrawn/revoked.

Thank you.

Yours’ sincerely,

Endorsed by:

1. Agrotosh Mookerjee, Norwich, UK
2. AMAR KANWAR, Film Maker, New Delhi
3. Anand Kapoor, Manchar, Pune
4. Aniruddha Vaidya, Sunnyvale, California
5. Arun Bidani, New Delhi
6. Aseem Srivastav, New Delhi
7. Ashok Agrwaal, Advocate, New Delhi
8. Asit Das, Activist, New Delhi
9. Balakrishna S. Pai, Advocate, Karwar
10. Bhargavi S.Rao, Environment Support Group, Bangalore
11. Bipin Kumar, The Other Media, New Delhi
12. Budhaji Damse, Manchar, Pune
13. Carbon Trade Watch, United Kingdom
14. Dipak Ray Chaudhuri, Kolkata
15. Dr. Manoranjan Mohanty, Academic, New Delhi
16. Dunu Roy, New Delhi
17. EQUATIONS, India
18. Geetanjoy Sahu, Assistant Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai
19. Hartman de Souza, Goa.
20. Heather Amos, United Kingdom
21. Himanshu Thakkar, South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers & People
22. Johar, Jharkhand
23. Jutta Kill, FERN, England
24. Kanchi Kohli, Kalpavriksh
25. Kavitha Kuruganti, Kheti Virasat Mission, Punjab
26. Kriti, New Delhi
27. Kundan Kumar, Asst. Professor, University of Toronto
28. Kusum Karnik, Manchar, Pune
29. Living Farms, Orissa
30. M Kikon, DICE Foundation, Nagaland
31. Madhumita Dutta, Corporate Accountability Desk, Chennai
32. Mamata Dash, Activist and Researcher, New Delhi
33. Manju Menon, Kalpavriksh
34. Manshi Asher, Activist, Himachal Pradesh
35. Mohan Bhagat, Professor of Physics, Universtiy of Maryland, Md USA
36. National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers (NFFPFW)
37. Nidhi Agarwal, Environment Research and Action Collective, Himachal Pradesh
38. Nityanand Jayaraman, Independent Journalist, Chennai
39. Philip Kujur, BIRSA MMC, Jharkhand
40. Ponni Arasu, New Delhi.
41. R. Majumdar, Calcutta University
42. Roger Moody, London
43. Rukmini Rao, Gramya Resource Centre for Women, Secunderabad
44. S.P. Verma, President, Science For Society, Bihar
45. Sahana, Lawyer/Researcher, New Delhi
46. Sandeep Kumar Pattnaik, Pune
47. Sanjay Basu Mullick, JJBA, Jharkhand
48. Sanjay Gawari, Manchar, Pune
49. Satya Sivaraman, Film Maker and Activist, New Delhi
50. Sayantoni Datta, New Delhi
51. Shaweta Anand, New Delhi
52. Shweta Narayan, Community Enviornmental Monitoring, Chennai
53. Soumitra Ghosh, North Bengal NFFPFW, SIliguri, West Bengal
54. Sreedhar, Environics Trust, New Delhi
55. Subrat Kumar Sahu, Film Maker and Journalist
56. Subrata Sinha, Former DDG, Geological Survey of India, Kolkata
57. Sumit Chakraborty, Mainstream
58. Tarini Manchanda, The Groundwater Up Project, Intercultural Resources, New Delhi
59. Usha, Thanal, Trivandrum
60. Wilfred D’Costa, Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF)
61. World Rainforest Movement
62. Xavier Dias, Editor, Khan Kaneej aur ADHIKAR, Jharkhand

Statement and letter from PPSS condemning Forest Clearance to POSCO

*POSCO PRATIRODH SANGRAM SAMITI*

Village Dhinkia, Jagatsinghpur District, Orissa

To:

Shri Jairam Ramesh

Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment and Forests

Paryavaran Bhavan

New Delhi

Sub:- Reported grant of final (Stage II) forest clearance to POSCO-India for proposed Jagatsinghpur steel plant; *grant of clearance is in blatant violation of law and of Ministry�s own circular of July 30, 2009; immediate withdrawal of clearance and action against concerned officials required

Dear Sir,

We are an organization of the people of the Jagatsinghpur area of Orissa, where the multinational POSCO corporation plans to set up a steel plant on 4,000 acres of land (of which 3,003 acres is forest land). According to\ news reports (cf. for instance *Economic Times, *January 2, 2010), the

Ministry has granted final clearance for diversion of this forest land for the steel plant as of December 30, 2009.

*If any such final clearance has been granted, it is in blatant violation of the law, the Ministry�s own orders and the assurances repeatedly given by the Ministry and yourself to the press and to Parliament. It would appear that the Ministry is actively colluding with corporate vested interests and lying to Parliament and the people about its commitment to the law. *

Please note the following:

- The area technically classified as ‘forest’ proposed for the steel plant has a large number of people who have been living and cultivating the land for many decades, and who have claimed rights over it under the Forest Rights Act.

- Section 4(5) of the Forest Rights Act bars the removal of any forest dweller from their lands until recognition of rights is complete. This section came into force on January 1st, 2008, when the Act was notified. Section 3(1)(a) recognizes the rights of forest dwellers to lands that they are cultivating. Moreover, sections 3(1)(i) and 5 empower the community to protect community forests and their cultural and natural heritage. Section 7 further makes any violation of these provisions a criminal offence. *From January 1**st**, 2008, it has hence been illegal to hand over forest land to anyone without complying with these legal requirements.*

- On March 23rd, 2008, the gram (palli) sabha of Dhinkia village (the statutory authority to initiate the process of recognition of rights under section 6(1) of the Forest Rights Act) passed resolutions initiating the process of claims for rights, and further demarcating the boundaries of the village’s “community forest resource” and declaring its intention to protect it, including it�s resolve to deny consent to any diversion of this land. This forest land cannot now be disturbed without violating section 5 of the Act.

- On July 31st, 2009, your Ministry issued a circular in order to clarify these statutory requirements,. *This circular clearly requires that no diversion of forest land shall be approved without certification from the State government that the process of implementation of the Forest Rights Act is complete in the area (please note that complete implementation is required, not merely a claim that there are no eligible persons, which undoubtedly the State government has made). Moreover, the consent of the gram sabhas of the area to the diversion is required. The same has already been denied by the Dhinkia gram sabha and no further request for its consent has been received. *

- As recently as the debate in the Rajya Sabha on December 7th 2009, *you had cited this very circular to inform Parliament of your Ministry�s commitment to complying with the Forest Rights Act. *The Ministry is fully aware of the applicability of this law to this area and the legal requirements for it�s diversion. The resolutions of the Dhinkia gram Sabha were sent to the Ministry when they were passed in March 2008, and the issue has been repeatedly raised by other political leaders. CPI leader Shri D Raja has already written to the Prime Minister twice (16.5.2008 and 10.11.2009) on the fact that the allocation of forest land to POSCO is in direct violation of the Forest Rights Act.

*In light of the above it is clear that, if final clearance has indeed been granted, the Ministry is engaging in direct illegal collusion with a multinational corporation. The public statements from the Ministry can then only be interpreted as blatant lies. In this context we call upon you to immediately withdraw any such clearance and take action against those responsible for granting it.*

Sincerely,* *

Sd/-

(Prashant Paikray)

Posco gets final nod from Environment Min

Press Trust of India / New Delhi December 31, 2009, 20:29 IST

South Korean steel giant Posco has finally got the clearance from thhe Environment Ministry for acquiring forest land for its proposed Rs 54,000-crore steel project in Orissa, which has been already delayed more than a year.

“The Centre gave the final clearance for handing over 2,900 acres of forest land to us for our 12 million tonne steel project in Orissa. We are hopeful that the state government would soon transfer the entire 4,004 acre of land needed for the project to us,” Posco India General Manager (External Relations) Simanta Mohanty told PTI.

Nearly 3,600 acres of land out of required 4,004 acres fall under the government category, while the rest remains under private control.

“We are ready to commence work on the much-awaited project any day now,” Mohanty said, adding that the foundation stone could be laid any day.

Construction of project was originally scheduled to start in April 2008. The plant in the state’s Jagatsingpur district, involving one of the biggest FDI, was faced with the twin challenges of land acquisition and regulatory clearances. Apart delays in land acquistion, it is awaiting mining leases.

“We gave the stage II (final) forest clearance to Posco India yesterday, while the stage I clearnace was given in 2008,” a top Forest & Environment Ministry official told PTI.

Last year, the Supreme Court green bench had given clearance to the company for use of forest land.

Keen on fast clearance of the project, the Steel Ministry had written to Orissa to help resolve the land issue.

The company does not have physical possession of the land as yet but is gearing up for the foundation stone-laying ceremony as on January 26, 2010. South Korean President Lee Myung–Bak is scheduled to lay the foundation stone for the project.

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/posco-gets-final-nodenvironment-min/82019/on

Abhay Sahu’s interview after release

Dear Friends,

After 10 months of being imprisoned under false charges, anti POSCO leader Abhay Sahu was released from Choudwar on 21st (August) evening on bail. Please follow the below link to see an interview with him where he proves that his spirit is indomitable.

Regards
Surya

PPSS to intensify its movement

POSCO war zone – PPSS to intensify its movement
Sunday, 06 Sep 2009

Statesman News Service repoted that emboldened by the release of their leader, Mr Abhay Sahoo and empowered by the support of CPI MP from Jagatsinghpur, Mr Bibhuprasad Tarai, the activists of POSCO Pratirodha Sangram Samiti are all set to intensify their opposition to the steel project.

Abhaya Sahoo gets bail

Abhaya Sahoo gets bail

Express News Service
First Published : 21 Aug 2009 02:35:00 AM IST
Last Updated :

PARADIP: Anti-land acquisition leader and president of Posco Pratirodha Sangram Samiti (PPSS) Abhaya Sahoo, who has been languishing in jail for more than 10 months, was granted conditional bail in one case by the High Court today paving way for his release.

Police had filed 36 cases against Sahoo on the charges of murder, kidnapping , assault and preventing government officials from entering villages. Earlier, the High Court granted him bail in 10 cases and Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) of Kujang granted him bail in 25 cases. Sahoo will be released from the Choudwar jail tomorrow as he has been granted bail in all the 36 cases, said Sishir Mohapatra, general secretary of PPSS. A Division Bench of High Court comprising Justice Raghunath Biswal in his order granted bail to Sahoo. However, the court has barred Sahoo from entering Dhinkia village. His counsels Jagannath Patnaik and Gatikrushna Satapathy argued in the court that the police have lodged many false cases against Sahoo.

Police had arrested Sahoo on October 12 last year at Bhutmundei under Kujang block in Jagatsinghpur district while he was returning to Dhinkia, the bastion of anti-Posco movement, from Bhubaneswar in a car. After Sahoo’s arrest, Kujang police arrested anti-Posco leader Prakash Jena and five other anti-Posco activists.

The bail to Sahoo has brought joy among the anti-Posco activists in Dhinkia and Gobindpur villages. PPSS is opposing land acquisition in three gram panchayats – Gadakujang, Dhinkia and Nuagaon – for establishment of mega Posco steel project.

Anti-Posco stir gets panchayat seal

SUBRAT DAS

Bhubaneswar, May 7: Victory of a member of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) in the recently concluded panchayat election has fuelled speculation regarding the fate of the proposed steel plant slated to come up in Jagatsinghpur. The proposed Posco project has been pending for over four years now. While pro-Posco groups have been left wondering, the anti-project group, PPSS, is now upbeat after its secretary, Sisir Mohapatra, was elected as the sarpanch of Dhinkia gram panchayat — at the epicentre of the anti-Posco agitation — yesterday. Another PPSS member Prakash Jena was also elected as the panchayat member from the same area.

Striking While the Iron is Hot

A case study of the Pohang Steel Company’s (POSCO) proposed project in Orissa

Published in February 2009, the case study documents the impacts of POSCO’s proposed iron ore mines, steel plant and port on local communities and their environment. The study describes the ongoing struggle against the project in the backdrop of Orissa government’s frenzied drive to industrialise the state and dispossess the local people of their resources.

Letter to Forest Advisory Committee

24th November 2008

P.R.Mohanty,

Director General (Forests)

Chairman, Forest Advisory Committee

Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF)

New Delhi

Subject: Concerns over Forest Clearance to POSCO’s steel plant and port in Jagatsinghpur, Orissa

Sir,

We have learnt through newspaper reports that the Stage I forest clearance for the POSCO steel plant and port in Orissa has already been granted by the FAC (copy of newspaper report attached). We have no transparent way to confirm this as the website of the MoEF has and continues to miss uploading any information on the clearances of the proposed Steel Plant and captive port of M/s POSCO-India in Jagatsinghpur, Orissa.

If this is indeed true, following the Supreme Court returning the project to MoEF for final decision, we are deeply concerned and disturbed with this development. There is clear evidence that despite indicating that all the project components are inter-linked in the 2005 MoU with the State government (copy enclosed), the company has sought separate clearances for each component. This has been brought to the notice of the MoEF by civil society groups prior to the environment clearances were granted, and also to the Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court (copies enclosed).

Far from being over the hill

Hindustan Times, November 27, 2008

Far from being over the Hill

Manshi Asher

The Khandadhar Hill Range in Orissa is a major attraction among the state’s tourists for its two waterfalls. But for the local tribal community of the Paudi Bhuiyans, the repositories of high quality iron ore deposits in the region are a curse. With the state government now likely to clear the prospective mining licence for 600 million tonnes of iron ore to Posco, the world’s second largest steel making multinational, the traditional bonds between the saal forests and the Paudi Bhuiyans of the Khandadhar hills are in danger of being snapped.

According to Ashwin Mahanta, a resident from the area who has been working with the tribals for the last 10 years, eight gram panchayats of the Lunipada block, with more than 50 villages within a 10 kilometre radius of Khandadhar, will be directly and indirectly affected by the mining activity that Posco proposes to carry out in an area of 6,000 hectares.

ABHAY SAHOO CHAINED TO A HOSPITAL BED BUT NOT GIVEN A BED

Abhay Sahoo, the firebrand leader of the anti POSCO farmers’ & fishermen’s
movement in Jagatsinpur district of Orissa was arrested on 12 October. He
had more than twenty falses cases registered against him and he had been
under the villagers protection for more than a year in Dhinkia. On the day
of his arrest he was returning o Dhinkia after a medical checkup. He is
diabetic and asthmatic. He was hospitalised on 3rd December after his blood
sugar levels shot up. But he has not been given a bed and has been illegally
chained to the leg of a bed as if he were a dangerous criminal. Such
treatment is usually meant for dangerous and notorious criminals, not for
those who are fighting for the democratic rights of the poor, oppressed and
marginalised people against the powerful nexus of politicians, corporations,
bureaucrats & mafia.
See online video reportage -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px3d52vTEuM

When people are encumbrances and projects are a national necessity

When people are encumbrances and projects are a national necessity
By Kanchi Kohli and Manju Menon
Though the Supreme Court gave the go-ahead to the POSCO project in Orissa in August, community resistance continues, fuelled by the arrest of anti-POSCO activist Abhay Sahu
“The Government of Orissa agrees to acquire and transfer all the above-mentioned land required for the Overall Project, free from all encumbrances….” MoU between POSCO and Orissa state government
Abhay Sahu, the leader of the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), was arrested late-evening on October 12 2008 as he returned from a medical treatment in Vishakhapatnam. For the last three years he has led a strong community movement against the takeover of fertile coastal agricultural land for an integrated plant and captive port by South Korean steel giants, POSCO. For the state government and the company, the strong people’s movement under his leadership was one of the biggest roadblocks to entry into the proposed project area.

HOW TO DESTROY INDIA’S COASTS AND AGGRAVATE CLIMATE CHANGE

History will judge India’s Central Government, the Orissa State Government and the Ministry of Environment and
Forests harshly. In their haste to curry favour with Foreign Direct Investors and powerful people, they have turned into
rubber stamps for the destruction of India. Principled officers are virtually hounded out of the MoEF, cronyism and
groupism is the order of the day and many believe that ignorance, avarice and arrogance are now its hallmarks. This
meticulous piece by Kanchi Kohli and Manju Menon underscores just one of the many conspiracies hatched by the
leaders of our country and within the Ministry of Environment and Forests, which has proved unequal to the task of
protecting the ecological security of India

Read More…

People refuse to give in to POSCO

Down to Earth, December 2008

WHILE the Orissa government assured support to the South Korean steel giant posco to set up its 12-million-tonne steel project in the state, the communities likely to be affected staged a protest march in Delhi on November 15. The Supreme Court gave the go-ahead to the project on August 8 this year.

Even as the agitators in India demanded scrapping of the project on grounds of exploitation of tribals’ livelihood, Vietnam took a call to scrap a steel plant by posco on environmental grounds following protests.

Rising power of a collective – everything else looks so small…

The road to Dhinkia from Bhubaneswar was never so long as it was on 30 November 2008… or so I thought. The idea was to avoid the bad road, our friends advised us to take a longer route. Yes, the road was certainly much better but the journey could never be so eventful. As we were approaching Paradip, we saw hundreds of trucks lined up – I had never seen so many trucks in all of my life till now. They had stopped in protest against an accident that had taken place just that morning leaving one person severely injured. The matter was related to the Paradip Port Trust as the truck was ferrying the materials for the port and the truckers demanded interventions by the company to help the victim…Read more about the anti Posco convention at Dhinkia on 30th November 2008

Padyatra against corporate invasion of Orissa’s coast

Press Release: 29th November 2009

Dhinkia: Hundreds of farmers, fisherfolk, agricultural workers and the women of villagers affected
by the corporate invasion of coastal Orissa kicked off a historic seven day long protest padayatra
today from Dhinkia, 68 kms from the state capital Bhubaneshwar.
“This is a warning to the Orissa government and corporations not to underestimate our resolve to
resist any attempt to grab local resources and displace villagers” said Abhay Sahu, leader of the
POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) inaugurating the padayatra, which will traverse 120 kms
between Paradip and Puri.
The PPSS has been at the forefront of the resistance to the US$12 billion project, with investment
from the South Korean steel giant POSCO, which proposes to build a steel plant, thermal power
station, a private port and carry out mining of iron ore. The project, which has not been able to take
off due to the local people’s opposition to land acquisition, will -if implemented- result in the
displacement of over 30,000 villagers in this rich agricultural and fishing belt.
Reacting to news reports that the South Korean President had been invited to be the main guest at
the upcoming Republic Day celebrations on January 26 and might visit the site of the POSCO
project also Comrade Abhay Sahu said that it is better if the President cancelled his trip instead of
wasting his time trying to enter the project area.
The padyatra has been supported by almost all the major anti-mining, anti-diplacement movements
around Orissa and is the first instance in recent times that such a unity has been achieved cutting
across other ideological or identity barriers.
“There is a new solidarity against forced displacement of people by corporate activity that is
emerging in Orissa and this padayatra will help consolidate this” said Prashant Paikray, another
leader of the PPSS. It is planned to hold public meetings all along the route of the padayatra to
mobilise local folk and raise awareness among them to the damage to livelihoods that will occur
due to the various mega projects that are proposed along this stretch of Orissa’s coast.
Among the organisations participating in the padayatra is the Vedanta Vishwavidhyala Virodhi
Sangharsh Samiti which is opposing the acquisition of 6000 acres of land for purportedly building
a university by Vedanta, a UK based company that is also involved in a controversial bauxite
mining project in Niyamgiri.
“Why should a university need 6000 acres? This is enough land to build a township which must be
the real intention of the company speculating in real estate” said K.P.Sasi, documentary film maker
from Bangalore here to show support to the anti-displacement movement.
Among the organisations that are participating in the padayatra are the Jatadhar Bacao Andolan,
Ersema ; Devi Muhan Surakhya Samiti ; Prakrutika Sampada Surakhya Parishad, Kucheipadar;
Niyamgiri Surakhya Samiti ; Vistapan Virodhi Janmanch, Sukinda; Paschima Odisha Krushak
Sangathan Samanwaya Samiti ; Mittal Virodhi Manch ; Hirakud-Rengali Budi Anchal Sangram
Samiti ; Akhaya Das, Jala Surakhya Jan Manch ; Lok Shakti Abhiyan ; Lok Sangram Manch; Jiban
Jibika Surakhya Samiti ; Natabar Sarangi, Prachi Chasi Meli ;Gana Sangram Samiti, Ganjam;
Sidheswar Anchalika Surakhya Committee, Naraj ; Odisha Jana Adhikar Mancha ; Odisha Forest
Majdoor Union ; Basi Surakhya Manch ; and the Rajdhani Basti Unayan Parishad , Bruhat Mumbai
satkari samghatan, Students from Delhi University and JNU and activists from Differents parts of
the country
For More Information visit: http://orissaconcerns.net