JOIN USPosco land buy continues amid tight security
Land acquisition for the Posco steel project in Odisha’s coastal Jagatsinghpur district continued for the second consecutive day on Monday amid tight security.
Nearly 14 platoons of the armed police have been deployed in the area. The district collector and the superintendent of police (SP) were also present on the spot to supervise the process.
“Land acquisition has been going on in a peaceful manner. There was a misunderstanding with the villagers on Monday which was sorted out through discussions. We are acquiring land with the consent of the villagers who are being paid their compensation on the spot,” said Jagatsinghpur District Collector S K Mallick.
Though there was no resistance from the villagers protesting on the second day, the Posco Pratirodh Sangrama Samiti (PPSS), which is spearheading the agitation, has warned of an appropriate reply to the “police brutality”.
“A fitting reply will be given to the brutal manner in which the police behaved with the protesting villagers on Sunday when the district administration re-launched its land acquisition process. Our struggle will go on”, PPSS president Abhay Sahu said.
There was a minor clash between villagers and the police on Sunday when they tried to remove those who were squatting. However, the allegations have been denied by the SP Satyabrata Bhoi. “No force was used to remove the villagers”, he said.
Meanwhile, the state unit of the CPI which has been backing the anti-Posco villagers since the beginning on Monday staged a demonstration in front of the office of the Divisional Commissioner, Central Range in Cuttack protesting the re-launch of the land acquisition process.
The party leaders said they were not against the project but wanted it to be shifted to another location. “We are not against the implementation of the project. What we want is its shifting to another place,” CPI Lok Sabha member from Jagatsinghpur, Bibhu Prasad Tarai said.