Pro-Posco group halts re-survey at project site

After protracted agitation by the anti-Posco brigade, it is now a pro-Posco outfit which has turned its ire against the Posco steel project on the compensation issue, halting the resurvey and land acquisition work launched yesterday at the project site.

Supporters of United Action Committee (UAC), a pro-Posco outfit, today blocked the road at Gadkujang, a panchayat affected by the project, preventing the entry of survey teams into the project site to conduct resurvey and disburse compensation to beneficiaries in exchange for demolition of their betel vines on government land.

People also ransacked the GPS (Global Positioning System) machine used by one survey team for enumeration of betel vines. The agitators, however, lifted the road block later after discussion with the district administration officials and local Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leaders. Both sides have agreed to halt the survey of betel vines for next couple of days and sort out the contentious issues through negotiation.

State agriculture minister, Damodar Rout has intervened and convinced the pro Posco activists to cooperate with the survey teams. The district administration conducted a meeting with UAC members and district officials to sort out the issue at Gadkujang panchayat office in presence of Rout.

The administration will meet with UAC members on Sunday to work out a solution on measurement of betel vines and other issues including the Posco compensation package.

On the other hand, Rout has committed to discuss with officials of Posco India and Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation of Orissa (Idco) to consider the demands of the affected villagers.

The agitation was staged in support of the demand for measuring of betel vines using traditional tapes and not machines, measuring of betel vines from ‘stay to stay’ instead of ‘fence to fence’, enhancement of compensation for encroachers of government land, employment to a member of each affected family, hike in the rate of compensation for private land.

UAC members stated that they had allowed the district administration to undertake the GPS based re-survey work on assurance of fulfillment of their demands. Among other things, the UAC members had also demanded to give compensation to betel vine owners as per the 2008 survey list which mentioned 1964 betel vines covering 39,439 acres of land.

On Tuesday, the survey teams had measured the betel vines of local villagers by machines instead of tape and also measured the betel vines from ‘fence to fence’ in stead of ‘stay’, a move that is set to cause huge loss to beneficiaries of betel vines.