Thaindian News

Bhubaneswar, June 11 (IANS) The stir against South Korean steel major Posco’s proposed $12 billion steel project intensified with thousands continuing their sit-in demonstration Saturday at the project site, official said.

Villagers, including hundreds of women, children and aged persons, have been protesting at Govindpur in the coastal district of Jagatsinghpur since the past several days to protect their firm lands which state authorities want to acquire for the project.

The land acquisition officials have not been able to enter the troubled area so far despite deployments of nearly 800 police personnel at the site. Their repeated calls to the people to vacate the area have not evoked any positive response.

“People are sitting peacefully. We are trying to persuade them to leave,” Superintendent of Police Suresh Singh Dev Dutta Singh told IANS.

A team comprising leaders of the Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), Forward Bloc, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Samajwadi Party visited the protest site Saturday and extended support to the villagers.

Some of them also staged a protest few kilometres away from the site, accusing the authorities of acquiring lands for the steel plant forcibly and illegally.

Posco had signed an agreement with the state government in 2005 for a 12 million tonnes steel plant - the largest foreign investment in India near the port town of Paradip, about 120 km from state capital Bhubaneswar.

The company requires about 4,004 acres of land for the project, of which 2,900 acres are forest land. However, there has been little progress on the ground due to stiff opposition from the local people.