Displaced villagers demand Rs 25 lakh per acre

The villagers likely to be affected by Posco’s mega steel plant in Orissa have demanded Rs 25 lakh per acre of private land and Rs 15 lakh per acre for encroached government land.

Besides, they have asked for additional compensation of Rs 15.000 per decimal for betel vines and Rs three lakh per acre for prawn gheris, most of which are operating on government land.

It may be noted, out of 4004 acres required for the Posco plant, 3566 acres are government land with the rest 438 acres being private land. Similarly, there are 300 acres under betel cultivation. If accepted, these demands would jack up the financial burden on the company for land acquisition by over Rs 600 crore.The company, as per its agreement with the state government, was to pay Rs 25,000 per acre of government land and a compensation of Rs 6000 per decimal for betel vines and Rs one lakh per acre for the prawn gheris to be demolished for the project.

Though the price of the private land has not been decided yet pending discussion with the affected villagers, the company had initially estimated it in the range of about Rs 10 lakh per acre.

Meanwhile, members of United Action Committee, a pro-Posco outfit active in the area, held discussions with the Jagatsinghpur district administration at Erasama bock office on finalization of the compensation package.