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| Govt suggests more compensation for Posco affected |
| BS Reporter / Kolkata/ Bhubaneswar Aug 17, 2009, 00:57 IST |
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In a major boost to the proposed Rs 52,000-crore Posco project in Orissa which has been marred by delay due to protests over land acquisition, the district administration in Jagatsinghpur has initiated steps to expedite land acquisition and other activities.
For the purpose, the district administration led by Gyanaranjan Dash, the newly joined collector of Jagatsinghpur, recently conducted a review meeting with the Posco officials and other revenue officials.
Posco had prposed to set up a 12-million tonne integrated steel plant near Paradeep in Orissa’s Jagatasinghpur district. However, the project was unable to make headway due to stiff protests by the anti-Posco activists.
Despite resistance from the public and the rift between the anti & pro-Posco activists, the district administration has chalked out the strategies to win the hearts of the affected people and convince them in favour of the project.
The efforts of the district administration to expedite the land acquisition for the Posco project has come at a time when the Posco Pratirodha Sangram Samiti (PPSS), the organisation spearheading the anti-Posco movement has somewhat been weakened following the arrest of Abhya Sahoo, the anti-Posco leader, in October last year.
The district officials have given a suggestion to the Posco officials to increase the cost of compensation towards land from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 12-15lakh per acre and also give Rs 10,000 per decimal to the betel cultivators instead of Rs 6,000, as prescribed in the state policy, towards the loss of betel vines. The affected villagers had demanded a compensation of Rs 30-40 lakh per acre.
The officials also suggested the company to open training centres immediately for training the local students on various trades and to construct well designed buildings with all facilities for rehabilitation of affected villagers.
The district collector emphasized on the need to develop rapport with the affected villagers as their cooperation was needed to expedite the project.
During the discussions, the Posco officials informed that the company has decided to construct a 10-km marine road from Dhinkia to Paradeep for safety of the affected villagers.
This road is being considered as an important road for transporting raw materials during the installation of the Posco steel plant and also to protect the local villagers from tidal waves as hundreds of villages are being swept by the tidal waves during cyclone and depression.
Saroj Mohapatra, general manager of Posco India, SK Singh, head of Posco’s Kujang office, Surjeet Das, the district rehabilitation officer, Murlidhar Swain, the Erasama block development officer, the local tahsildar and special land acquisition officer were present at the meeting.
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