There is one small piece of good news from Keonjhar district. As we can see from the news pasted below, the local people and environment may have got a fresh leash of life with the withdrawal process of land acquisition for Sterlite Iron and Steel Company (CISC), a Vedanta group of company.
We thank the government for having heeded to the local people and having realized that irrigation patches should not be given away for destructive industrialization and mining.
We congratulate the local people for having successfully fought the mighty green criminal Vedanta group and urge upon the government to speed up the process of withdrawal of land acquisition to return the land to the people at the earliest.
We also urge upon the govt. of Odisha to immediately stop acquiring all irrigated land and forests for any such destructive industrialization. The monsoon fed agricultural land on which large number of farmers of the state depend must not also be acquired for such industries.
Thanks and regards,
Ranjan
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Land acquisition process withdrawn for Sterlite’s steel plant
The MoU was signed with the State government in 2004
BHUBANESWAR, October 19, 2012
The State government has formally started withdrawal of land acquisition process taken up for setting up a steel plant by Sterlite Iron and Steel Company (SISC) in Keonjhar district.
Office of Revenue Divisional Commission (Northern Division) submitted withdrawal of land acquisition notification for land measuring nearly 1,800 acres from eight villages in Keonjhar.
SISC, a sister concern of Sterlite group, had signed memorandum of understanding with the State government in 2004, but the project never took off. It was always mired in controversy.
A majority of people in Palaspanga area in Keonjhar district were opposed to the project.
Villages where land acquisition process were withdrawn included Darnardanpur (242.32 acres), Gopinathpur (120.58 acres), Narsinghpur (54.24 acres), Singraisuan (123.67 acres), Tikarpada (612.64 acres), Mahadeijoda (270.37 acres), Kadagarh (380.08 acres) and Silisuan (67.07 acre).
As the project did not progress, Vedanta Group, of which Sterlite is a part, had tried to rope in on infrastructure major Larsen and Toubro.
In 2010 Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal had said the company was negotiating with L&T for setting up of a steel plant. Vedanta Group was supposed to invest Rs. 12,502 crore.
Sources in Steel and Mines department said since the land patches were irrigated land, the project was shelved at that place for the time being. Government is hopeful that the project would come up somewhere else.
This is the second industry of Vedanta Group after Vedanta Alumina Refinery at Lanjigarh of Odisha that had attracted trouble.
On its part the State government had already issued under section 6 (1) notification Land Acquisition Act.
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