Dhinkia villagers resent exclusion of pvt land for Posco project

The decision of the state government to exclude acquisition of 284 acres of private land from Dhinkia panchayat for the mega steel plant proposed by Posco India has evoked strong resentment among local villagers as they are ready to give their land if the company offers suitable price to them.

The villagers have threatened not to vacate encroached forest and revenue land for the said project if private land of Dhinkia is excluded for the Posco steel project.

The opposition of the villagers has come close on the heels of the announcement made by the state minister for industries and steel & mines, Raghunath Mohanty. The minister had stated that the government has decided not to acquire private land at Dhinkia given the people's opposition to the project there.

Out of 438 acres of private land required for the project, 284 acres comes under Dhinkia village while 67 acres was to be acquired at Gobindpur village under Dhinkia panchayat.

Meanwhile, the state government has decided to exclude 284 acres of private land from Dhinkia panchayat, a move which would bring down the number of displaced families from 803 to 613.

One affected villager Debnendra Swain of Dhinkia village said that he is ready to hand over his three acres of private land to Posco project if the company offers a suitable price.

The villagers of Dhinkia stated that they are ready to register nearly 217 acres of private land, out of 284 acres, in favour of Posco project if the company considers their demands sympathetically.

Many villagers have also expressed that it is a wrong to exclude 284 acres of private land from Dhinkia panchayat at a time when the stronghold of Posco Pratirodha Sangram Samiti (PPSS), the organization spearheading the anti-Posco movement in the state, is said to be weakening day by day.

They claimed that the few villagers, who are protesting against the Posco steel project under the influence of outsiders, do not own any private land at Dhinkia panchayat.