<p>Though the fate of the Rs 51,000-crore project hangs in balance after a four-member Forest Advisory Council filed a split report on withholding environment clearance, people in this coastal village, the hotbed of the resistance movement, are worried about getting displaced.<br /><br />The resistance movement has come to a halt pending a final decision on the fate of the integrated steel project, but the villagers are wary of the promoters gobbling up their homes and hearths.<br /><br />"We simply cannot lower our guard. That is why we are continuing with the practice of gong-beating and night-long watch at entry and exit points of the village," Sisir Mohapatra, Sarpanch, Dhinika gram panchayat, said.<br /><br />Abhaya Sahu, president of the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samity, said people of villages adjoining the POSCO site were very worried.<br /><br />The spirited gong-beating is religiously performed every morning and evening ever since the day the state government inked an MOU with the South Korean steel behemoth.<br />"It has become my daily routine. I march forward from one end of the village to the other beating the gong," Narahari Pradhan, a burly youth in his early 30s said. MORE PTI <br />Pradhan performs the task free of cost, saying it makes him proud to keep the people alert and vigilant.<br /><br />Apart from the beating of the gong, villagers have volunteered to keep a night vigil to keep 'outsiders' at bay. Gates have come up at the entry points to the village which are closed after sundown, another villager said.<br /><br />He said the night vigil has yielded positive results recently. "Two criminals, who robbed a bank in Paradip, had entered the village with of cash. Our night guards intercepted them and handed over the duo to the police."<br /><br />The villagers' tight vigilance perhaps went a bit too far when they mistook a four-member South Korean civil society group, which wanted to gauge the people's mood for the project for study back in their country, for POSCO officials scouting for land.<br />They were held back at the makeshift bamboo gates and sent away, the villagers said with a triumphant grin.<br /><br />The biggest Foreign Direct Investment in India has failed to get off the ground in the last five years, stumbling on the resistance movement and environment concerns.<br />The Forest Advisory Council, headed by former Union Environment Secretary Meena Gupta, was tasked to find out whether the mega project violated central Acts.<br />Three members of the central panel sought cancellation of the environment clearance granted to the steel plant and a captive port for illegalities, while Gupta took a dissenting view not willing to revoke the license.<br /><br />A final decision will be taken by Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh.</p>
<p>Though the fate of the Rs 51,000-crore project hangs in balance after a four-member Forest Advisory Council filed a split report on withholding environment clearance, people in this coastal village, the hotbed of the resistance movement, are worried about getting displaced.<br /><br />The resistance movement has come to a halt pending a final decision on the fate of the integrated steel project, but the villagers are wary of the promoters gobbling up their homes and hearths.<br /><br />"We simply cannot lower our guard. That is why we are continuing with the practice of gong-beating and night-long watch at entry and exit points of the village," Sisir Mohapatra, Sarpanch, Dhinika gram panchayat, said.<br /><br />Abhaya Sahu, president of the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samity, said people of villages adjoining the POSCO site were very worried.<br /><br />The spirited gong-beating is religiously performed every morning and evening ever since the day the state government inked an MOU with the South Korean steel behemoth.<br />"It has become my daily routine. I march forward from one end of the village to the other beating the gong," Narahari Pradhan, a burly youth in his early 30s said. MORE PTI <br />Pradhan performs the task free of cost, saying it makes him proud to keep the people alert and vigilant.<br /><br />Apart from the beating of the gong, villagers have volunteered to keep a night vigil to keep 'outsiders' at bay. Gates have come up at the entry points to the village which are closed after sundown, another villager said.<br /><br />He said the night vigil has yielded positive results recently. "Two criminals, who robbed a bank in Paradip, had entered the village with of cash. Our night guards intercepted them and handed over the duo to the police."<br /><br />The villagers' tight vigilance perhaps went a bit too far when they mistook a four-member South Korean civil society group, which wanted to gauge the people's mood for the project for study back in their country, for POSCO officials scouting for land.<br />They were held back at the makeshift bamboo gates and sent away, the villagers said with a triumphant grin.<br /><br />The biggest Foreign Direct Investment in India has failed to get off the ground in the last five years, stumbling on the resistance movement and environment concerns.<br />The Forest Advisory Council, headed by former Union Environment Secretary Meena Gupta, was tasked to find out whether the mega project violated central Acts.<br />Three members of the central panel sought cancellation of the environment clearance granted to the steel plant and a captive port for illegalities, while Gupta took a dissenting view not willing to revoke the license.<br /><br />A final decision will be taken by Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh.</p>