BackMint Series-I | Divided views on Posco amid fear, uncertainty
Mint Series-I | Divided views on Posco amid fear, uncertainty
PremiumImpending development: On the land that has already been acquired by the state government, villagers and workers show the drain and a boundary wall being built at Polang for the Posco Steel project
Nuagaon/Gobindpur: The story of Posco’s controversial $12 billion, 12-million tonne steel plant in Orissa is the story of two women.
One is Bachana Mohanty, 36, of Gobindpur village, who claims she was hit by a rubber bullet fired by a policeman when she was preventing an attempt by officials to clear land meant for the factory.
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“If I don’t go for the protest, my land, my children, my life will be lost," she says.
The land meant for the plant spans several villages and 4,004 acres in Orissa’s Jagatsinghpur district. Around 2,000 acres of this has already been acquired by the state government (which will hand over the land to the Korean company after it acquires all that is required for the plant). The relief package includes a compensation of ₹ 17 lakh per acre of land owned, a job for one member of the family, and a house. And while the lady from Nuagaon may think that fair, others do not.
“We do not want Posco. We have betel, coconut, jackfruit, cashew, fish...," says Ramesh Chandra Raut, 45, at Nuagaon village, where a group of women sit on the side of the road with handmade banners denouncing Posco. “The government wants to take away our productive land."
“We are not ready to sacrifice the vibrant, agrarian economy of this place for foreign direct investment or domestic investment," says Sahu, who has been spearheading the protest since the project was announced. “Not an inch of cultivable land in India must be sacrificed for industrialization."
Interestingly, much of that agrarian economy involves growing betel, a crop that doesn’t require much attention and pretty much grows itself.
Sahu himself admits that betel cultivation is so remunerative and involves so little labour,that villagers are not interested in giving it up to seek otheremployment. The leaves of the betel plant and areca nuts are popular as post-meal digestives and mild intoxicants across the country.
“Children told the National Commission that they have seen their fathers and mothers injured in police action. So this time, they wanted to participate in the dharna," Sahu says. “They have said they can’t be considered separate from their families."
On 2 May, the ministry of environment and forests gave a so-called forest clearance to the project; activists see this as the final nod for the project under pressure from the Central government, which is eager to show the country that it has not faltered on its foreign direct investment policy. Posco still has to wait for a Supreme Court decision over its iron-ore mining lease and settle the contentious issue of iron-ore exports in a renewed agreement with the state government.
On 18 May, the state government started its land clearance drive. The protests started almost simultaneously. PPSS’ contention is that much of the land sought by Posco, falls under forest land where villagers are governed by the Forest Rights Act under which the land they live and farm in, is deemed as their own.
And some work began at Polang—a boundary wall for the plant and a drain. Early July saw around 50 people from another village, Gadkujang, working on the two, alongside giant earth movers. This is land that has already been acquired by the state. No one here is sure the plant will be constructed, “but if it comes, at least, there will be work", says one worker in his 30s who does not want to be identified for fear of losing his job (on one side) and being attacked by anti-plant groups (on the other).
PPSS isn’t the only activist group at work in the region. There’s also United Action Committee (UAC), a pro-Posco group that believes a steel plant will benefit people. “Because it is a one-time payment for our land, we have demanded that it should be higher," says Tamil Pradhan, spokesman of the UAC. “We have also demanded that landless labourers working at betel farms get an opportunity to work in the company."
At times, pro- and anti-Posco groups clash. “In this village even if someone wants Posco, they will never tell," says a man in Gobindpur, where the heart of the protest lies, speaking on condition of anonymity.
And somewhere in between the pro- and the anti-Posco groups are 52 families from Patna village that have been living in a leaky transit camp since 2007. They were driven out of their village by PPSS for owing allegiance to the state’s ruling party, the Biju Janata Dal, and for being in favour of the Posco plant.
The government has been supporting them with an allowance of ₹ 20 a day for each person, but life isn’t good for these people who live in small, dingy rooms, their cattle by the door.
“No one listens," says Nirmala Sahu, 45, part of a family of five. “We want to go back to our old home."
Photos by Javeed Shah/Mint
ruchira.s@livemint.com
This is the first part of a series that examines the issues arising from the acquisition of land for Posco’s $12 billion project in Orissa. Next: An analysis of Tata Steel’s and Posco’s projects.
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