IANS reported that Orissa officials Saturday stopped the land acquisition process for South Korean steel major POSCO's USD 12 billion project in Jagatsinghpur district, two days after the union environment and forests ministry asked it to stop all work on the project.

A senior district official told IANS that “We have stopped the land acquisition process on August 7th 2010 till an indefinite period. We are awaiting further instruction from the state government.”

The central government on August 5th asked the state government to stop all work, including land acquisition, related to the project due to violation of the Forest Rights Act. The ministry said its decision was based on the recommendation of a joint panel of the environment and tribal affairs ministries.

According to the panel which visited the proposed site last month, land acquisition work related to the project which started July 27 is a violation of the FRA and the conditions laid down by the environment ministry on forest clearance.

(Sourced from IANS)