<p>The Jagatsinghpur district administration in Odisha on Thursday halted the land acquisition works for the Posco steel project following a directive from the state government. <br /><br /></p>.<p>The process was on since last Saturday. An official source, however, said that the acquisition work had been stopped temporarily and it would begin again very shortly.<br /><br />Though no official statement has been issued so far on the subject, highly placed sources in the secretariat said, the government decided to stop the land acquisition keeping in mind the Budget Session of the state Assembly which took off again on Thursday after a fortnight-long recess. <br /><br />The Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS)’s decision to intensify the anti-project agitation was also one of the reasons behind the government’s decision. <br /><br />The Jagatsinghpur based outfit, which is spearheading the local farmers’ agitation against the controversial South Korean project, had announced on Wednesday to hold a “naked” demonstration on the spot if the government did not stop the land acquisition on Thursday. <br /><br />“Naked protestors who would include men, women and children would hold a demonstration on the spot where the administration would go for land acquisition”, the PPSS had announced.</p>
<p>The Jagatsinghpur district administration in Odisha on Thursday halted the land acquisition works for the Posco steel project following a directive from the state government. <br /><br /></p>.<p>The process was on since last Saturday. An official source, however, said that the acquisition work had been stopped temporarily and it would begin again very shortly.<br /><br />Though no official statement has been issued so far on the subject, highly placed sources in the secretariat said, the government decided to stop the land acquisition keeping in mind the Budget Session of the state Assembly which took off again on Thursday after a fortnight-long recess. <br /><br />The Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS)’s decision to intensify the anti-project agitation was also one of the reasons behind the government’s decision. <br /><br />The Jagatsinghpur based outfit, which is spearheading the local farmers’ agitation against the controversial South Korean project, had announced on Wednesday to hold a “naked” demonstration on the spot if the government did not stop the land acquisition on Thursday. <br /><br />“Naked protestors who would include men, women and children would hold a demonstration on the spot where the administration would go for land acquisition”, the PPSS had announced.</p>
