Will dilution adversely affect agitation?
While the official position is that the Forest Rights Act (FRA) has been diluted only for linear projects, green activists already fear the worst.
With both environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan and minister of tribal affairs K.C. Deo having agreed to the Pulok Chatterjee Committee report signalling that gram sabha consent will not be required for linear projects, environmentalists believe this is a clear signal that it will be only a matter of time before this is extended to other projects, including mining.
The entire anti-Posco agitation hinges around how the residents of Dhinkia and Govindpur villages have opposed the take-over of over 3,000 acres of forest land. Already, 2,000 villagers and members of the gram sabha had signed on this resolution which was sent to Orissa chief minister and the National Green Tribunal (NGT). Communiqués from these villagers and gram sabhas resulted in the NGT asking for a fresh review of the Posco in March 2012.
The NGT suspended the environmental clearance of Posco and limited the land being acquired by Posco making it a 4 MPTA steel plant instead of a 12 MPTA. Prashant Paikary, one of the leaders of the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti, is critical of the attempt to dilute the Forest Rights Act, especially both the Saxena Committee and the Meena Gupta Committee set up by the MoEF had recommended the need to enforce the FRA.
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