BJP demands CBI probe in Posco approval
January 31st, 2011 - 11:43 pm ICT by IANS
Bhubaneswar, Jan 31 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Monday demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the clearance granted to the Posco project in Orissa by the union environment and forests ministry.BJP state chief Jual Oram said the approval came as a shock to him.
“The environment minister has turned a blind eye to the facts reported by various fact finding teams and experts,” Oram said in a statement here.
“How come the same ministry which held back approval for several months citing various violations overnight changed its stand?” he asked, alleging it might be the outcome of an unholy nexus between the central government and the Biju Janata Dal government in the state.
“There may be some corrupt payment behind the approval and we demand a CBI enquiry into the whole affair,” he said.
The environment ministry earlier of the day gave conditional clearance to South Korean major Posco’s project in state’s coastal Jagatsinghpur. It is the biggest foreign direct investment in the country.
Posco is an integrated steel, mining and port project and separate clearances had to be given to all three. It also comprises a captive power plant to provide electricity to the steel plant.
Thousands of villagers have been opposing the project, saying it will displace them from their homelands and ruin their betel leaf farms.
The environment ministry earlier put the entire project on hold, citing violations of environment and forest laws by the company.
- Patnaik welcomes clearance for Posco project - Jan 31, 2011
- Conditional nod to Posco project in Orissa (Lead) - Jan 31, 2011
- Land acquisition for Posco project soon: Orissa - Jan 31, 2011
- Environmental panel seeks more information on POSCO - Nov 30, 2010
- Posco's $12 bn Orissa project gets conditional nod (Second Lead) - Jan 31, 2011
- Posco, industry welcome conditional nod to Orissa project - Jan 31, 2011
- Panel probing POSCO divided, submits two reports (Lead) - Oct 18, 2010
- barricades are up again at Posco site - Feb 03, 2011
- Posco welcomes conditional nod for Orissa project - Jan 31, 2011
- India approves South Korea's $12 billion steel plant - Jan 31, 2011
- Land acquisition for Posco to resume despite protest - May 08, 2011
- Environment panel submits separate reports on POSCO - Oct 18, 2010
- Green tribunal scraps Posco's $12bn Odisha project (Lead) - Mar 30, 2012
- Conditional clearance to Posco hardly a relief: environmentalists - Jan 31, 2011
- Anti-displacement group protests nod to POSCO - Jan 31, 2011
Tags: betel leaf, bharatiya janata party, biju, blind eye, captive power plant, cbi probe, central bureau of investigation, central government, entire project, environment minister, foreign direct investment, forest laws, homelands, integrated steel, oram, orissa, plant thousands, posco, state chief, steel plant