The expansion plan of Bhusan Steel Limited near here got a set back with the affected villagers declining to give up required 94 acres of tenancy land.
At a meeting held at the collector’s office at Dhenkanal, people of four villages rejected district administration’s plea to cede land. The affected four villages are Nuagana,Sarappa,Raghunathpur and Narendrapur.
The villagers said, though the notice for land acquisition was issued in 2005, the same was vehemently opposed by the villagers. The then district collector Usha Padhi, honouring the sentiment of people, had cancelled the land acquisition move.
The villagers said, they had ceded most of their land and only small patches are left with them to sustain their families. They accused the company of not doing anything on giving employment to the local youths and peripheral development.
The district land acquisition officer Bijan Thumb said, the people of these villages opposed the land acquisition as they had already given up about 90 per cent of their land for the company. However there would be another meeting at a convenient time to persuade villagers to give land to the steel company which needs it for for expansion.
