Lukewarm response to anti-Posco rally

The anti-Posco agitation has received a big jolt with the meagre participation of the people from the villages affected by the Posco project in the state.

This follows lukewarm response of the people to the pada yatra of the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) and other activists, which is currently underway. The pada-yatra, which had started from Dhinkia in the Posco site last Sunday, will culminate at Puri tomorrow. Though the pada yatra has been organized opposing both Posco and Vedanta University projects, the weak response of the villagers of Dhinkia and Gobindpur, the two anti-Posco strongholds in the Jagatsinghpur district is particularly palpable.

Even the local MP Bibhuprasad Tarai, who was at the forefront of the anti-Posco movement has refrained from participating in the pada yatra.

Moreover, the women and the youth of Bhandisahi and Mutunia villages have spurned the call of the activists to participate in the pada yatras and rallies.

Manoj Nayak, a youth leader of Mutuia said the young persons did not respond to the call of the activists as they were in favour of development through industrialization. The women and youth of the villages have slammed the PPSS president Abhaya Sahoo and termed him as an anti-industry man. Concerned over the depleted strength of the agitation, the anti-Posco activists are making all out efforts to persuade the women and youth of different villages to join the pada yatra and rallies.