1,000-acre land acquired for Posco project: Orissa govt

BHUBNESWAR: The Orissa government said it has taken possession of over 1,000 acres of the 4,004-acre land required for the Posco-India project in the state and will set up a joint task force to protect the acquired land from encroachment.

"We have taken possession of over 1,000 acres of land at four villages in Kujang gram panchayat area in Jagatsinghpur district," Revenue Divisional Commissioner (central division) P K Mohapatra told reporters here.

Besides betel vines, forest land and revenue land were also acquired during the land acquisition, the verification process for which was conducted from July 28 to August 7, Mohapatra said.

The acquired land comprises at least 52 betel vines and forest land, he said.

However, no land has so far been handed over to Posco- India, which plans to set up a 12 mtpa greenfield steel mill near Paradip at an investment of Rs 51,000 crore.

Learning from experience at the Kalinga Nagar Industrial Complex in Jajpur district where people recaptured land even after accepting compensation, the state government this time decided to ensure that the land acquired for Posco project did not face the same fate, Mohapatra said.

The task force to be assigned protection of the land would comprise members from the police, revenue and forest departments, officials said.

The state government had reduced the land size for Posco project by 300 acres after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced that private land from Dhinkia village would not be acquired for the purpose in view of the opposition from the local people.

Meanwhile, sources at the proposed plant site said many people, who had already accepted compensation for betel vines, were busy rebuilding their betel vines.