Anti-Posco protests return to Orissa
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COMMENTS 
Protesters burnt copies of the new Rs 400 crore rehabilitation package announced by Posco for people to be displaced by the plant, and accused Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of reneging on his promise to visit the site of the proposed steel plant in Orissa’s Jagatsinghpur district
The Posco Pratirodha Sangram Samiti (PPSS) burnt copies of the Posco compensation package at Dhinkia, on July 11, 2010, even as anti-land acquisition leaders congregated there to reaffirm their resolve to continue their struggle against the company’s steel project.
The PPSS-organised Maha Samelani at Dhinkia vowed to intensify their stir until the South Korean steel major shifted its project from the present location near Paradip in Orissa. Addressing villagers, PPSS sympathisers said the declaration of Posco’s compensation package by the administration was anti-people, as the views of local representatives had not been taken into account whilst finalising it.
Out of six elected representatives of three affected panchyats, only two were present at the meeting of the Rehabilitation and Periphery Development Advisory Committee (RPDAC). Even these two representatives had threatened to boycott the RPDAC meeting but attended under pressure from officials and ruling party leaders, they alleged.
The anti-land acquisition leaders clarified that they were not opposed to any industry, including Posco, but that the South Korean company must shift its project to a less fertile area where damage to local people’s livelihoods, flora and fauna and the possibility of pollution of waterbodies would be limited.
PPSS leaders explained that local people have been cultivating betel vine, cashew and other crops on government and forest land for years, so the land must be registered in their name according to provisions of the Forest Rights Act.
The assembled villagers reiterated that they would not allow land acquisition for the project at any cost and would thwart all attempts by the government to do so. They also oppose Posco’s proposal to build a captive port at the Jatadhar mouth which, they said, would affect business at Paradip port.
Last week, Posco offered the highest ever compensation package for over 2,000 people to be displaced by the steel plant. Fixing the price of private land at Rs 17 lakh per acre, the Rehabilitation and Periphery Development Advisory Committee for the project announced compensation of Rs 11.5 lakh an acre for land under betel vines, and an unemployment allowance of Rs 2,250 a month to landless labourers.
However, the PPSS, which has been at the forefront of the anti-Posco agitation, remains unimpressed. Though it did allow a socio-economic survey of the affected area last month, activists re-erected barricades to prevent the authorities from entering the area.
PPSS chief Abhay Sahoo said villagers had allowed surveys to be carried out in the area only after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik promised to visit the region. “But now the chief minister has hugely betrayed us. By announcing a compensation package before visiting the area, the chief minister has cheated us,” Sahoo said.
Posco, the world’s fourth largest steel company, signed an MoU with the Orissa government in June 2005 to set up a plant that would produce 12 million tonnes of steel per year. The estimated investment involved is Rs 54,000 crore.
Source: Business Standard, July 12, 2010
The Hindustan Times, July 12, 2010