New Delhi:
Orissa government's two big ticket projects, the much controversial POSCO steel and Vedanta's bauxite mining project, has now resulted into a face-off between Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh and the state Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
On Monday, Naveen Patnaik took his battle to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. On his agenda the two projects stalled over environmental concerns. He also met the Environment Minister and came out of both meetings claiming to have extracted an assurance.
"The PM said, will try to expedite POSCO. Jairam also assured that he would try to hasten POSCO," said the Orissa CM.
The Orissa Chief Minister also made a pitch for the tribals living in the areas likely to be submerged due to the Pollavaram project in Andhra Pradesh. The project recently got forest clearance.
"Pollavaram is a big concern, both Jairam and the PM have assured that no tribals will be affected," said Naveen.
Patnaik's visit to Delhi comes after the Environment Ministry's N C Saxena panel criticised the POSCO and Vedanta projects and accused Vedanta of consistently violating environment laws in active collusion with state officials.
Rahul Gandhi's proposed visit to Vedanta's Niyamgiri project on Thursday has also rattled the Chief Minister.
However, facing a shutdown in Niyamgiri, Vedanta has reportedly set its sights on the Bauxite rich areas close to its aluminium refinery in Lanjiganj.