MINING AND INDUSTRIALISATION UPDATE, ORISSA - Vasundhara

Statesman News ServiceANGUL, Aug. 10: Officers working atNalco smelter and power plant here havethreatened to launch a fast unto death from12 August if the management fails to fulfiltheir demand by tomorrow. The officers aredemanding a declaration of departmentalpromotion results. The departmentalpromotion committee (DPC) for officers hadmet in June and by now the results ought tohave been declared, they said. “In fact as perrule, the results should have been announcedon 1 July,” said president and secretary ofNalco officers association Mr SN Sahu andMr Arun Kumar Sahu of Nalco Smelter andPower Plant here. The delay has causedserious concern among the 1800 strongofficers of the public sector company, theycontended. The officers were earlierdismayed by the decision of the company tohold one DPC in an year instead of theprevious practice of conducting twoDPCs every year. This had already curtailedpromotional avenues, they decried. Thedecision to launch a fast unto death wastaken at a meeting of the general body of theassociation. Officers here claimed that eventhe Damanjodi refinery side of the companyis likely to face protests. The officers atDamanjodi are likely to sport black badgesdemanding streamlining of the promotionsystem, they added.Manganese mafias operatewith full vigourStatesman News ServiceKEONJHAR, Aug. 11: While police inJoda and Barbil area are trying all means tocurb the illegal mining and transporting ofiron ore, the ‘manganese mafia’ has had afree run. The manganese mafias are used totransporting manganese ore worth a lot ofmoney on road. But some do this in aninnovative way. They send the illegallymined manganese on rail. This came to thefore when the mining department and policestumbled upon 1100 ton of manganese orepiled at Bansapani railway siding. Themanganese has been seized andinvestigations are on. Locals insist thatillegal transport of manganese has been aprosperous business since long. Nothing hasbeen done to catch those indulging in suchtrade, noted locals. The people of Joda andBarbil area observe that the multi-croreillegal trade can only be stopped if theforest, mines and police authorities actjointly, conduct regular raids and step uppatrolling in the area. Sources say themining department, Joda, seized 857 mt ofmanganese ore in 2007-08 and in 2008-091800 mt of the same mineral ore have so farbeen seized.PPSS resolves to acquire,distribute forest landStatesman News ServiceJAGATSINGHPUR, Aug 11: Embarking ona novel method of protest to counter thePosco India’s forest diversion proposalwhich was recently cleared by the apexcourt, the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti(PPSS) spearheading the anti-projectmovement has decided to ‘capture/acquire’and ‘distribute’ the said land to villagers.Over the years the government was tellingus to protect the forest and not to encroachon such land. Today, the same government,recommends forest diversion proposal andhands it over to a company. What kind oflogic is this and if at all forest land is to begiven, locals who protected it should getfirst chance, charged PPSS leaders. ThePPSS which held a series of meetings in allthe affected villages ever since the courtgave its verdict and decided to ‘allot the saidland to local people’ and also form forestprotection committees. Intensifying its threeyear old agitation, the PPSS has called uponpeople of Dhinkia, Govindpur, Nuagaon,Noliashai, Gadakujang and other villages tojoin hands and avail the facility of landallotment. PPSS leaders claimed thatyesterday they allotted 1500 acres of thesaid forest land amongst people of26