UAC stops work on Posco's rehab colony

Construction work on Posco's rehabilitation colony at Noliasahi in Orissa's Jagatsinghpur district has been stopped by the activists of the United Action Committee (UAC) of the Posco project.z

The UAC activists were protesting the decision of the district administration to deploy police force in what they termed as peaceful zone of the project.

In a bid to expedite the land acquisition process, police forces were deployed for the security of Posco and district administration officials at Noliashai, Nuagaon and Gadkujang, perceived to be peaceful areas.

The deployment of these forces is also meant for expediting the construction work on Posco’s rehabilitation colony and to step up the company's CSR (corporate social responsibility) activities. “There is no necessity of deploying police forces in these peaceful areas as there is no threat to the officials of the district administration and Posco. There is no sign of violence in these areas, rather the locals are willing to extend their cooperation to the Posco project”, said Nakula Sahoo, sarpanch of Gadkujang.

Members of UAC, who have stopped construction work on the rehabilitation colony, have apprised the company authorities, the Jagatsinghpur district collector, the district superintendent of police and the state government on their move.

The UAC, consisting of 52 members, expressed that the district administration has no intention to restore normalcy to the trouble torn Dhinkia and Gobindpur villages.