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Tribals protest against Tata’s Chhattisgarh steel project

November 14th, 2009 - 2:12 pm ICT by ANI ( 1 comment )

Bastar(Chhattisgarh), Nov 14(ANI): Hundreds of tribals, including women, in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district reiterated their opposition at a public hearing against a Tata steel plant project being set up in Bastar.

Tata Steel plans to invest Rs 195 billion in a steel plant spread across 5,000 acres that will create 5.5 million tons of steel per year, but tribals are against it.

“We have to attend this meeting, where around ten villages have participated to protest against the Tata’s steel plant. The Government is asking for our lands, but if we will give away our lands, there will be nothing left with us. How will we earn our living and what will we feed our children with? We don’t want jobs, we just want our lands,” a tribal said.

Environmentalists claim the steel plant will adversely affect the environment and the lifestyle of the people.

Prakash Jha, an environmentalist and a filmmaker, said the government should take steps to ensure environmental safeguards.

“We are not against the development of the region. The construction of the plant is a good thing, as it promises to provide employment opportunities to locals, but this should be evaluated correctly. The Government should take steps to protect against the effects of the industrial plant,” Jha said. (ANI)

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One Response

  1. factfinder Says:

    As far as the well being of the tribal people of Bastar(Chhattisgarh) area is concerned according to me Tata Steel is a company which is fully committed to the well being of the communities it operates in, especially the tribal people with whom they are working with. They have a hundred year old history of engagement and sharing of the wealth generated by the enterprise in Jamshedpur.

    Being a frequent visitor of Jamshedpur I have experienced how their community development initiatives have ensured a qualitative improvement in the standard of living of the people of the operational & project areas be it in education, health services, development of sports activities, increase in income, Entrepreneurship development, Women empowerment, Preservation of tribal culture and much more. This is a well known fact and there is evidence of this in over 800 villages they are working in, which the members of the committee have ignored during the survey.

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