Work at Posco site resumes after Sunday holiday

After a day's halt, work at the proposed Posco steel plant site in Orissa's Jagatsinghpur district was in progress today with people's cooperation, official sources said.

"Work at the proposed Posco site was continuing smoothly. There is no tension in the area and no police force had been deployed," Paradip additional district magistrate Surjeet Das said.

Work like tree felling, which had resumed on Saturday after remaining suspended for 25 days, was halted yesterday on account of it being a Sunday and for other related preparatory operations, the sources said.

Meanwhile, in anticipation of forcible removal of bamboo gates erected by Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) in Gobindpur panchayat, anti-Posco activists were maintaining a strict vigil in the area.

A dharna was also continuing at Nuagaon by Bhitamati Surakshya Manch (VSM) in support of their charter of demands which included enhanced compensation to land losers.

Another dharna was going on at Mahal under Gobindpur panchyat protesting construction of a coastal road. The local residents had protested the construction work as they thought the proposed road would facilitate entry of Posco officials and government machinery to the area.