the recent findings of The National Commission for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes, are set to give a fillip to the affected villagers' agitation against the proposed steel plant project of the National Mineral Development Corporation (nmdc) at Nagarnar in Bastar, Chhattisgarh. The commission has vindicated the villagers' stand by corroborating their allegations regarding fake signatures and tampering of gram sabha registers by the administration during land acquisition (see Down To Earth, Stir over project site, Vol. 10, No 15, December 31, 2001). It also says that statutory provisions about environmental clearance have been violated. However, nmdc contends that it had obtained the required permission from the state government's Technical Development Board. Meanwhile, despite resistance put up by the villagers, the nmdc has finalised the contract for construction of a boundary wall in the area where the proposed steel plant would come up.
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