Bokaro, Feb. 17: Bokaro district administration is holding a high-level meeting tomorrow to study the implications of a forest department letter seeking the closure of a steel plant that is coming up at Chandankyari block, 30km from here, alleging that a portion of it was built on forestland.

Deputy commissioner Uma Shankar Singh said he had convened the meeting of officials and legal experts to understand the issues pertaining to Electrosteel Steel Ltd, a proposed 3MTPA steel plant that began low-key operations in 2013.

'I have seen all the letters and documents. I have also sought a few more documents. I will take a final decision after discussing the matter with the experts,' he told The Telegraph today.

State forest department deputy secretary Sunil Kumar wrote to DGP Rajiv Kumar and the Bokaro deputy commissioner, among others, on February 14 asking them to stop operations at the Electrosteel plant, raising a number of questions on the land acquisition procedures followed by the Calcutta-based steel company at Chandankyari block.

In his submissions, Kumar referred to assistant inspector-general of forest T.C Nautiyal's letter of October 20, 2014, citing encroachments at Bhagaband plot number 1105 and plot number 1120 that had been examined by the forest ministry.

The issues raised in Nautiyal's letter were: whether the steel plant was functioning at present, whether any proposal for diversion of forest land was submitted by the company to the state government, what was the present status of court cases, was any interim order passed by the court.

Nautiyal's letter concluded with the directive: 'The state government is requested to ensure that the functioning of the unauthorised plant built on forest land in violation of Indian Forest Act 1927 & Indian Forest Conservation Act 1980 is stopped.'

Referring to these issues, deputy secretary Kumar informed the DGP that ESL had encroached on plots 1105 and 1120 at Bhagaband village on which part of the plant had come up. Hence, operations of the plant had to be stopped immediately, he added.

ESL chief of communications Rohit Singh denied the allegations, claiming the steel plant had been built after taking necessary clearances from concerned departments, including the forest department.

On the issue of land, Singh clarified that ESL bought raiyati, or privately owned, land directly from owners. Hence, no forest diversion proposal was required.

On pending court cases, he said that ESL staked claim to a part of the Bhagaband land, which was challenged by its erstwhile owner bearing title suit number 2596.

The court, he added, had held that the forest department's claim was not valid after which the forest department filed an appeal in a higher court which did not order a stay.

Subsequently, Singh claimed, the forest department filed more than 50 cases at Jharkhand High Court and Supreme Court. But in all instances, ESL's pleas were upheld.

Then, ESL filed a title claim of the Bhagaband land at Bokaro civil court where a verdict is still pending.

'Taking action against ESL now would be taking the law in one's own hand as a final judgment on the issue is yet to be declared,' Singh said.