Protests against Posco plant gain steam in Orissa

BHUBANESWAR: There seems to be no end to hurdles in Posco���s proposed 12 million tonne steel plant at Paradip, notwithstanding the Supreme Court���s nod on August 8 for the diversion of 3,097 acres of forest land for the project in Jagatsinghpur district.

In the first major protest since the apex court���s order, the residents of Dhinkia, Gobindpur and Patna villages gathered on Tuesday at Balitutha, the entry point to the proposed site. The Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) even questioned the court.

���Who is Supreme Court, what will it do? The court should not think that it is above public. The Naveen Patnaik government and his administration should know that if it tried to suppress us by bullet, we are ready to counter them,��� PPSS chief Abhaya Sahoo said, making it clear that the battle for Posco is going to be a long drawn one.

The protesters, many of them carrying bows and arrows, axe and lathis (wooden sticks), raised slogans against the company and said they will not give even an inch of their land, be it crop land or forest,to the company.

���Our protest will continue as usual. We will not allow the company or the government officials to enter our area,��� PPSS president Abhaya Sahu said at the meeting, adding: ���The people will protect the forest land also.���

���We have put barricades in many places to prevent the entry of the government and company officials,��� he said. The protesters also ransacked the police outpost at Balitutha, though two platoons of armed police force were deployed there. After Supreme Court���s verdict, the administration was gearing up for survey of forestland.