ABSTRACT
This chapter is the study of the POSCO-India transit camp located in eastern coastal part of India, in the district of Badagabapur. This camp was established by POSCO-India as a temporary measure to rehabilitate the people displaced by violent conflicts in its proposed project site. This transit camp was initially started to house people supporting the establishment of the development project. In general, the impacts of development projects should be evaluated in two phases, i.e., (i) during and (ii) after the establishment of the development project. Hence, a review of the rehabilitation and resettlement provisions and through an assessment of the socio-economic-ecological conditions, the impact of the development project as accessed. But what about the people who are in transit? How does one classify those sections, who in principle, agreed with the establishment of the development project, vacated the land and are left dispossessed and neglected? This chapter outlines the economic and other socio-cultural challenges faced by the people in the transit camp. Contrary to the dominant literature that suggests that development projects bring growth and welfare, this chapter highlights that the people who have agreed to give land and cooperate with the development project failed to get adequate support either from the government or from the development project. They were gradually sidelined and subjected to a condition of impoverishment. This chapter also maps the shift in the temperament of the people residing in the transit camp, e.g., from acceptance to being sceptical of the development project. Data for this chapter was collected through field visits. Semi-structured interviews were used and random and purposive sampling methods were used for data collection.
