Orissa to go ahead with Posco project on acquired land

"We have already acquired about 1,800 acres for the proposed Posco plant near Paradip and are beginning project-related work in the area acquired by the government," Chief Secretary B K Patnaik told reporters here. Preliminary work like cleaning and levelling of the land will now taken up to make the area fit for launch of construction of the Rs 52,000-crore mega project.

Announcing a temporary end to the land acquisition process,  Additional District Magistrate (Paradip) Sarojkant Choudhary said: “For the time being the administration will focus on preparing the acquired area ready for the construction of the plant. In the meantime, talks are on with various groups to facilitate resumption of land acquisition.” The  foundation stone has already been laid for a rehabilitation colony for displaced people near Polanga and Noliasahi in Gadakujang gram panchayat where the district administration of Jagatsinghpur has acquired land.

Meanwhile,  Communist Party of India MP Gurudas Dasgupta joined the agitation at Jagatsinghpur on Tuesday along with local villagers and protesters and assured the people of raising their grievances in parliament in the upcoming monsoon session.

Dasgupta said: “The Naveen Patnaik administration is out to sell Orissa to multi-national companies. The state government does not have any sympathy for the people. We are going to raise the Posco issue in Parliament during the coming session.”  

Earlier, a team of left parties led by Dasgupta visited the Dhinkia-Govindpur area of the coastal Jagatsinghpur district where the local villagers had been protesting against the land acquisition process launched by the district administration for the multi-crore South Korean steel plant.