Orissa resumes Posco survey despite protests from villagers

Pratirodh Sangram Samiti put up a strong resistance. Survey work also commenced in Nuagaon while Dhinkia was not included because it is considered the bastion of the anti-Posco activists.

Posco, the South Korean steel behemoth, had started survey and land demarcation work on January 8 this year but was forced to stop it in the wake of resistance from local villagers under the Pratirodh Sangram Samiti. This had led to the district administration convening a meeting with villagers supporting the project.

On Friday, Posco announced a revised rehabilitation and resettlement package after a meeting between the company representatives, Government officials and the project-affected persons. The new package made specific offers like houses in the rehabilitation colony for even farmers displaced from government land.

The world’s third largest steelmaker had signed an MoU in June 2005 for the Rs 52,000 crore project which is the biggest foreign direct investment in India. The project is to be completed in two phases and each phase will consist of two modules of three million tonne per annum. The first module is expected to be completed by June 2010. Thereafter, three million tonne capacity will be added every two years and the plant will reach its full capacity of 12 million tonne by 2016.

The Orissa Government decided to resume survey from Thursday, as it claimed that the villagers were beginning to understand the benefits of the steel project. Even Posco officials claimed only the villagers of Dhinkia were opposed to the projects. Which is why, Dhinkia village has not been included for the survey work in this round.

However, Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti president Abhay Sahu refuted these claims, saying people of all the villages are opposed to the project. There are only a few pro-Posco elements who are allowing the survey work to begin.

Several anti-project protestors were beaten up and two of their activists Pandab Swain and Budha Swain have been detained by the police, Sahu alleged. He told The Indian Express over the phone: “The people of Gadakujang panchayat staged road blockades and demonstrations to protest the police action and Noliasahi village was virtually cordoned off by the police with no one being allowed inside the village or nobody being allowed out of their houses.”

Jagatsingpur Superintendent of Police Dr R K Sharma said the survey commenced peacefully after resistance by a few villagers. They were taken into confidence and with their cooperation the survey work could be commenced, he said, adding neither police force was used nor anyone was detained. He said the presence of heavy police force was to prevent anti-social elements from entering the villages and disrupting the survey work.

The Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti, which has the backing of Communist Part of India (CPI), however, said they would continue to resist. Sahu said, “We will oppose this forcible land acquisition”.