Orissa urges Angul officials to restore law & order

Concerned over the violence that erupted recently at the site of steel plant proposed by Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) near Angul, Chief Secretary B K Patnaik has urged the district administration to examine the matter seriously and take steps to restore law and order.

“We have asked the district administration to examine the matter seriously and restore law and order at the site of violence. The district administration has also been instructed to check if the company is complying with the local employment clause”, Patnaik told reporters.

Following the violence, construction work on the steel project has come to a halt for the past four days.

Meanwhile, the stir continued unabated at the project site with the irate locals staging blockade on National Highway (NH)-55 and Angul-Chhendipada road for five hours on Friday in protest against the assault on the locals by JSPL's security personnel. The peeved locals of 40 villages held a meeting on Friday at Badakerajanga where they vowed to paralyze the construction work.

The agitating people have been demanding more compensation for their acquired land, regular employment, free medical treatment at the JSPL hospital and free electricity to their villages.

The people also alleged that the company had been employing workers from outside the state while land oustees and local people were being ignored.

Rajesh Jha, executive director, JSPL has appealed to the agitating locals to come forward for negotiations and end the agitation.