The Year that Was: State of Unrest

People would have welcomed the transformation if only Orissa’s track record had been better. Past regimes have brought in projects unmindful of the impact on local people.

The biggest reason for the advent of industry, job creation, doesn’t cut ice with the villagers in Dhinkia, located near the Paradip port. Of the eight villages which Posco’s plant will displace, Dhinkia is
the only one that has not responded to overtures from the steel giant. “Why should we?” asks Shishir Mahapatra, the village head. “We are fully self-dependent. This area earns about Rs. 30 crore every year from the betel leaves business alone,” he says.

It is another matter that not everyone of the younger generation wants to work in the farms.
Molu Mallik is one of the waiters at the newly constructed hotel targeted “to cater to the expected rush of businessmen” as many projects around the Paradip port come up. Mallik is from Dhinkia and instantly strikes a different note when asked if he supports the agitation against Posco. “No, I want the project to come. I don’t want to go back to farming,” he says.

Officials at the Bhubaneshwar-based office of Posco sense the resistance and admit that they are in touch with a few of the villagers within Dhinkia despite the virtual ban on outsiders. “We do not want to force the project on the people but want to talk to them across the table,” says Dr. S.K. Mahapatra, responsible for resettlement and rehabilitation policies within the company.

Vedanta Resources’ public relations drive shows the change in mindset among the pro-industry forces. It wants to win over support for its controversial bauxite mining project in the Niyamgiri hill range in Kalahandi district. The company claims it is spending Rs. 30 crore annually for the development of the region.

While it might be still a long way from winning the complete support of the natives, an impression has been made. At Tirlochanpur, a village at the Niyamgiri foothills inhabited by Dalits, support for Vedanta’s project has both unified and divided the people.

The government and companies have not yet earned the people’s trust fully.

- This article was earlier published in Forbes India magazine dated July 3, 2009

WHY DID WE DO THE STORY
It is not every day that Orissa falls under the radar of business journalism. Even when its mineral-rich landscape makes news when multinational giants locate their projects there, stories that cover all aspects of a project and give you an on-the-ground feeling are rare to come by.

A raging conflict between tribals in the state and metals and minerals giants Posco, Vedanta and Tata Steel had been brewing for some time, but it was the re-election of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik that made us visit this ancient land to understand how things were going to evolve.

Having won the elections on a development plank, Patnaik was all set to speed up approvals for the three controversial projects and potentially cause the protests to intensify. This story could not be done from the big cities from where these companies operate from. It had to be told first-hand from the scene of action.

WHERE DOES THE STORY STAND
Time seems to be frozen in the mineral-rich but economically poor state even a year down the line. At Kalinganagar, near the state capital Bhubaneshwar, protests are still being held against the displacement of villagers by the government to make way for Tata Steel’s new steel plant. At Dhinkia in Jagatsinghpur district, villagers protest against Posco and refuse to meet its officials for conciliation. Both the steel projects are already behind schedule.

At Vedanta Resources’ alumina refinery in Rayagada, the company isn’t able to mine for bauxite to feed the refinery. The project is not only delayed but has also been blacklisted by the Centre on environmental grounds. Vedanta has taken the expensive route of bringing in bauxite all the way from Chhattisgarh.

The future, both for the projects and the protesting people, remains bleak. There is no sign of the conflict ending soon. Tata Steel claims it has had a “slow but steady progress” at Kalinganagar, having rehabilitated six of the 11 project-affected villages. But few can predict when these three and scores of other plants in the state will start.

The discord is taking an ugly turn too. Local activists say the government is labeling every anti-displacement protest as a Maoist or a Naxalite movement. All signs point to a ticking time bomb.