PPSS to intensify stir against Posco

Posco Pratirodha Sangram Samiti (PPSS), the organization spearheading the anti-Posco movement in the state for more than four years, has decided to intensify its stir against the project at Balitutha, the entry point of Posco's project site on the occasion of Orissa Day (Utkal Divas) on April 1.

The CPI-backed organisation plans to have a Samabesh (mass gathering) on this occasion to demonstrate its opposition to the Posco steel project.

Prominent anti-land acquisition leaders from many parts of the country including Kalinga Nagar (Orissa), Singur and Nandigram, (West Bengal), CPI leaders and social activists are expected to address the gathering at Balitutha on the occasion.

Meanwhile, the district administration has clamped prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) at Balitutha to prevent the conduct of any public meeting at the spot.

Police has also arrested more than 300 activists to foil the PPSS meeting. However, hundreds of anti-land acquisition leaders violated the prohibitory orders and conducted their meeting in the presence of the police forces.

It may be noted that PPSS has been staging a mass dharana at Balitutha for the past two months, protesting the Posco project. The PPSS activists are determined not to allow the beginning of the process of land acquisition for the Posco steel project.