In 2008, Electrosteel Steels Limited (ESL) constructed a steel plant in Bokaro after receiving an environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC). The forest department claimed the construction was an encroachment of forestland in violation of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.
ESL reportedly deceived thousands of marginal farmers by misinforming them about the purpose of acquisition and not taking their consent. It was reported that the company’s middlemen purchased land at INR 70,000-80,000 per acre, which was one-tenth of the government’s stipulated industry price at that time. As compensation, the farmers demanded jobs at the plant, but ESL employed only a few of them. When the farmers protested, the company, in collusion with local officials, pressed false charges against hundreds of them.
Between March 2009 and March 2016, the forest department filed 53 cases against the company on this issue. A Supreme Court-appointed centrally empowered committee took stock of the situation and asked Jharkhand’s chief secretary on July 15, 2010, to act immediately, but no action was taken.
In October 2014, over 500 local residents, including farmers, gheraoed the steel plant and demanded employment for those who were displaced by the plant. They alleged that the company had agreed to hire about 2,000 land losers as contractual labourers but failed to keep its end of the bargain. Another report mentioned other challenges that the steel plant would pose, including loss of livelihood, displacement, groundwater pollution and crop damage, among others.
According to a May 2017 site inspection report, ESL had sought environmental clearance (EC) in 2006-2007 for a site in Parbatpur; however, the report found that the actual site was located in Bhagaband, five kilometers away from the proposed area, implying that ESL had made misrepresentations to obtain the clearance.
In 2018, Vedanta took over ESL and announced that there would be a new plant in the same location. The estimated investment was approximately US $3-4 billion for a capacity of 4.5 million tonnes annually.
Following the acquisition, ESL applied for fresh forest and environmental clearances. In a meeting of the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) -- responsible for granting EC to development projects -- it was confirmed that ESL had violated provisions of the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006. The EAC recommended issuing standard Terms of Reference to the project and directed the state government and the State Pollution Control Board to take action against the project proponent under the provisions of Section 19 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The committee also ordered that ESL should not be granted consent to operate till the project is given an EC.
In December 2019, the MoEFCC “regularised” the encroachment and gave in-principle forest clearance to 174 hectares of forestland that was reportedly encroached by ESL.
A public hearing for the project was organised in December 2020 in the presence of villagers residing close to the steel plant. While the CEO of Chas Municipal Corporation, who chaired the hearing, maintained that the hearing was successful and villagers had given their consent to the plant, people protested outside the plant premises, alleging that the hearing was conducted without informing the public at large.
Demand/Contention of the Affected Community
Complaint against procedural violations
Demand for rehabilitation
Opposition against environmental degradation
Demand for promised compensation
Demand for employment
Other Demand/Contention of the Affected Community
Region Classification
Rural
Type of Land
Both
Forest, Forest and Non-Forest
What was the action taken by the police?
How many people did the police detain or arrest?
What is the current status of the detained/accused persons?
Did the person face any violence while in police custody?
If any arrests took place, were the accused persons produced before a judge within 24 hours of the arrest?
If the accused was not produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, or not produced at all, what were the reasons?
Legislation under which the accused was charged
Was the accused person informed of their right to legal representation? Did the accused person have access to legal aid?
In cases where the accused person approached the court for bail, was bail granted?
Why was bail granted or rejected? If granted, what were the bail conditions and quantum of bail?
Details of sources (names of accused, names and numbers of any lawyers, names of any police officers contacted)
Status of Project
Original Project Deadline
Whether the Project has been Delayed
Significance of Land to Land Owners/Users
Whether the project was stalled due to land conflict
Source/Reference
Total investment involved (in Crores):
₹
2974
Type of investment:
Revised Investment
Year of Estimation
Has the Conflict Ended?
No
When did it end?
Why did the conflict end?
Categories of Legislations Involved in the Conflict
Forest and Scheduled Area Governance Laws, Environmental Laws, Land Acquisition Laws
Legislations/Policies Involved
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Whether claims/objections were made as per procedure in the relevant statute
What was the claim(s)/objection(s) raised by the community?
What was the Decision of the Concerned Government Department?
Legal Processes and Loopholes Enabling the Conflict:
Non-implementation/violation of FRA
Violation of free prior informed consent
Non-implementation/violation of LARR Act
Incorrect estimation of compensation
Violation of environmental laws
Legal Status:
In Court
Status of Case In Court
Pending
Whether any adjudicatory body was approached
Name of the adjudicatory body
Name(s) of the Court(s)
High Court of Jharkhand
Case Number
W.P. (C) No. 1873 of 2018 With I.A. No. 4608 of 2020
Main Reasoning/Decision of court
Major Human Rights Violations Related to the Conflict:
Displacement
Judicial harassment
Arrest/detention/imprisonment
Whether criminal law was used against protestors:
Reported Details of the Violation:
Police arrested 250 protesting farmers and an MLA for 12 hours. Also, when the farmers protested, the company, in collusion with local officials, pressed false charges against hundreds of them.
Date of Violation
Location of Violation
Bokaro, Jharkhand
Government Departments Involved in the Conflict:
Forest Department, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change
PSUs Involved in the Conflict:
Did LCW Approach Government Authorities for Comments?
No
Name, Designation and Comment of the Government Authorities Approached
Corporate Parties Involved in the Conflict:
Electrosteel Steels Limited, Vedanta Group
Did LCW Approach Corporate Parties for Comments?
Communities/Local Organisations in the Conflict:
What was the action taken by the police?
How many people did the police detain or arrest?
What is the current status of the detained/accused persons?
Did the person face any violence while in police custody?
If any arrests took place, were the accused persons produced before a judge within 24 hours of the arrest?
If the accused was not produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, or not produced at all, what were the reasons?
Legislation under which the accused was charged
Was the accused person informed of their right to legal representation? Did the accused person have access to legal aid?
In cases where the accused person approached the court for bail, was bail granted?
Why was bail granted or rejected? If granted, what were the bail conditions and quantum of bail?
Were there any other notable irregularities that took place, or other significant details?
Sushmita is a researcher, journalist and a multimedia artist. She has been working on issues related to the rights of indigenous people, climate change, governance and violence against women, among others, for close to a decade. In the past, she has worked with Majlis, Tata Institute of Social Sciences and Erasmus University, Netherlands. In 2020, Sushmita was awarded the Earth Journalism Network’s Asia Pacific Story grant to pursue stories on post-COVID recovery. She has been part of an ongoing assessment on the impact of COVID-19 on Adivasis and forest communities.
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