A senior administrative official in Janjgir-Champa district of Chhattisgarh had to lock the main gate of his office to escape the wrath of people who were protesting against the construction of a power plant in the district.
Hundreds of villagers from Dabra development block of Janjgir-Champa district today marched to the office of Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) to lodge their protest against the construction work of power plant by RKM Powergen.
The Chennai-based company is setting up a 4x360 Mw coal-based power plant at Uchpinda village of Janjgir-Champa district. The company has started the construction work of the plant despite strong protest from the villagers.
"The construction work has started without holding the public hearing and the on-going work is illegal," RS Sharma, convenor of villagers joint front, said. Despite bringing the matter to the notice of authorities concerned, no action was taken, he added. According to Sharma, police resorted to lathi-charge on the villagers two months ago when they were holding agitation against the plant. As part of the agitation, villagers today marched to the office of SDM to hand over a memorandum, he added.
After spotting the rally approaching towards the office, the SDM reportedly ordered to close the main gate of the building to restrict the entry of the agitators. The officer even refused to allow the delegation to enter the office for a parley. The irked villagers later sat on dharna near the main gate and started raising slogan against the state government.
