Posco deadlock enters 6th day; locals invited for talks

With work remaining stalled for the sixth consecutive day at Posco's proposed plant site near Paradip, local leaders were on Friday invited for fresh talks to end the deadlock.

Members of United Action Committee have been invited for talks at Gadakujang on their demands to pave way for resumption of work in Posco's proposed site, Jagatsinghpur district collector N C Jena said.

Though UAC is considered an outfit supporting the Rs 52,000 crore (Rs 520 billion) steel project, its activists are disrupting work for boundary wall and rehabilitation colony in Gadakujang and Nuagaon area demanding fulfilment of their six-point demands, including enhanced compensation to land losers.

"Unless and until our six demands are met we will not allow any work in the area," said a local.

The collector said they are hopeful that the fresh round of talks will yield some positive results to facilitate resumption of project related

work.

In another development, villager Durlabh Rout of Gobindpur sat on a hunger strike near the village demanding compensation for his betel vine recently destroyed by district officials.

His was one of the 24 betel vines destroyed at Gobindpur by a team which entered the village through a forest route.

Twenty-three vines were re-erected by project-opponents.

Rout said he was willing to hand over his land but wanted compensation immediately.

Under the banner of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti, the anti-project agitators including children and women were sitting on dharna at Gobindpur, the entry point to Dhinkia gram panchayat since June 2.

By forming human barricade the villagers have prevented the entry of police and other officials into Dhinkia area, the epi-centre of anti-Posco agitation.

Several political parties, rights outfits and non-government organizations have extended their support to the agitators, saying fertile land should not be used for the mega project.