Bhubaneswar: The Orissa government will
resume acquiring land for Posco`s mega steel plant in
Jagatsinghpur district from Thursday after a five day break,
even as agitators plan to oppose it.
"We will resume land acquisition and survey from
tomorrow. Everything, however, depends on the weather. As
there is a depression over the sea, it may create a problem,"
Jagatsinghpur district special land acquisition officer Surjit
Das said.
Steel and mines minister Raghunath Mohanty said "There
is absolutely no use of force for land acquisition. We believe
in peaceful industrialisation in the state."
The Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), meanwhile,
decided at a meeting to agitate at the entry point to the
Dhinkia gram panchayat.
"Our people protested against Posco in the scorching
sun. We are prepared to continue the agitation in the rain,
PPSS secretary Sisir Mohapatra said.
To prevent a repeat of government officials entering
Gobindpur village through the forest while the protests were
on at the entry point, Mohapatra said, "This time we will
prevent entry to the village from the forest."
Sources, however, said that the land acquisition in
Dhinkia area could be delayed due to absence of some senior
district officers.
Congress and BJP have separately decided to send teams
to oversee the acquisition.
"We will certainly protest if the government uses
force to acquire land," PCC president Niranjan Patnaik said.
BJP`s state Vice-President Ashok Sahu said the party
has already expressed solidarity with the people agitating
against the Posco project.
PTI
