Pro-Posco activists stall Posco boundary wall construction

The officials of Jagatsinghpur district administration, who claimed to have achieved a major breakthrough by initiating construction work for boundary wall and rehabilitation colony of the Posco project, today found themselves gheraoed by activists of United Action Committee (UAC), a pro-Posco group.

The irate activists of UAC including women of Nuagaon panchayat on Monday stalled the demarcation and boundary wall construction work of Posco project and ground leveling for its rehabilitation colony at Polang and Noliasahi under Gadkujang panchayat in the presence of armed police personnel, pressing for the fulfillment of their six-point charter of demands.

The district administration is yet to fulfill any of their demands even after over one month of resumption of the land acquisition for the project, leaving the UAC members sulking.

The key demands of the villagers included providing jobs to one member of each project affected family, changing the method of measurement of betel vines and raising compensation for homestead as well as agricultural land.

Panchyat samiti member Saumendra Nayak said, “UAC had requested the administration several times to fulfill its six-point charter of demands. However, the officials have turned a blind eye to UAC's demands and so the activists have been forced to intensify the stir at Polang and Noliasahi to stop construction work today.’

Meanwhile, the district administration has declared the stir against Posco land acquisition work at Gobindpur, involving women and children as illegal. The state BJP president Jual Oram sat on a dharna along with activists of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), urging the state government to put an end to forcible land acquisition for the mega steel project.

The state Chief Secretary B K Patnaik said, “The stir against Posco land acquisition work has not been declared illegal. It is only the use of kids in the agitation which is illegal. It is up to the district administration whether Section 144 will be imposed at the site of agitation”.

Asked if Section 144 will be clamped at the site of agitation, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said, “These decisions are taken at the district administration level. These are routine decisions and I understand that such decisions have been taken before”.

Earlier, thousands of villagers including women blocked the road at Balisahi in Nuagaon panchayat by placing logs of timber after getting information of officials chopping hundreds of casuarina trees.

The irate villagers also gheraoed the district superintendent of police S Debadatta Singh, addition district magistrate Sarojkant Chaudhry and other officials for two hours, demanding an end to cutting of trees.

Singh tried to pacify the irate villagers and committed to stop the cutting of tress till the solution for fulfillment of their six-point charter of demands emerges. Consequently, the irate villagers lifted their stir. No untoward incident has occurred during the road blockade, a source added.

The district administration has called a meeting at Kujang on Tuesday to discuss on the fulfillment of UAC's six-point charter of demands, said Gadkujang sarpanch Nakula Sahu.