Paradip (Orissa): Protesters opposing the
proposed Posco steel plant Tuesday resisted efforts by Orissa
government to start forest land survey at the project site.
As a team of officials of Jagatsinghpur district tried
to begin survey at Nuagaon village for the Rs 52,000-crore
project, a large number of people blocked the entry point.
Though District Collector N C Jena had earlier mooted
a plan to start forest land survey by excluding Dhinkia
village, CPI-backed Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS)
agitating against the project for the last five years, refused
to budge.
Rejecting Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik`s formula of
excluding 300 acres of private land in Dhinkia from project
site, PPSS president Abhaya Sahu said people would not vacate
the land where betel vines and other crops were being raised
by villagers for generations.
In a bid to persuade the people to allow the survey
work, BJD MLA Prashant Muduli held talks with villagers at
Gada Dhinkia panchayat area but the deadlock persisted.
"No survey will be allowed at this juncture as the
state government wants the Revenue Divisional Commissioner
(RDC) to hold talks with protesters," said a local resident,
dismissing as "meaningless" the discussion held on Sunday
between the government and representatives of United Action
Committee (UAC) on Sunday.
PTI
