Public hearing for Posco project in Orissa inconclusive
kujang, Jagatsinghpur district, Orissa, April 15, 2007: a contingent of armed policemen at B B High School testifies to mounting tension. The school is the site for a public hearing organised by the Orissa Pollution Control Board. The environmental ramifications of the contentious Posco steel project is up for discussion. But the meet ends before the officials can even reply to questions raised by the people.
The environmental impact assessment of the South Korean giant Pohang Steel's proposed Rs 5,100-crore Posco steel plant was on the agenda.But a vocal section of the crowd wanted officials to answer a simple question: "What is the use of a public hearing when there is no peace in the project area?'
Unrest Seventeen kilometres from the school is Dhinkia village where activists of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (ppss), resisting the steel plant touted as India's biggest fdi project, have dug in their heels.