Patkar, talking to reporters, said that she wanted to meet the family members of Swain, but a section of locals claimed that the team of activists was there to seek feedback from them about the JSW project.
Ten betel vine plantations were dismantled in the first few hours without any resistance from locals, official sources said, adding that payments would be made soon.
Tension mounted in Dhinkia village in the Posco project site near Paradip in Orissa as the survey teams, conducting a socio-economic survey of the project site, came eyeball to eyeball with the villagers of Dhinkia, who vehemently oppose the project.
Sources said, they have been driven to desperation because of their inability to pay back the crop loan due to abject poverty.
Posco India is open to realigning its project area and one of the options could be to the south of the site.
Ridiculing Odisha government's claim that land acquisition for the proposed Posco project near Paradip was complete, CPI-backed Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) said demolition of betel vines did not mean taking over possession of farmers' land.
Resentment is also brewing over the fact that instead of employing locals, peripheral development work has been entrusted to outsiders.
Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti has re-erected barricades to block the entry into the site
Eight police personnel were on Saturday taken hostage near Paradip in Orissa by a group of locals opposing the Rs 52,000 crore Posco steel plant.
A day after declaring assembly of anti-Posco agitators at entry point to Dhinkia area near Paradip as "unlawful", the Orissa government on Saturday re-deployed police force and hinted at action if protesters continue to prevent movement of officials at the proposed steel project site.
Nihar Das Pattnaik, the company's manager, CSR, and three others -- Arun Mohapatra, Debasish Swain and Prasant Rout - had gone to Patana village to conduct a survey of households for inclusion in the CSR activities.
Though the fate of the Rs 51,000-crore (Rs 510-billion) project hangs in balance after a four-member Forest Advisory Council filed a split report on withholding environment clearance, people in this coastal village, the hotbed of the resistance movement, are worried about getting displaced.
Project opponents, led by Posco Pratirodha Sangram Samiti, the organisation spearheading the agitation against the South Korean company, held a massive rally and protest meeting on Saturday at Balitutha, entry point to the project site. People from the affected villages such as Dhinkia, Gobindpur, Nugaon and Gadkujang attended.
The villagers, prompted by anti-Posco brigade, opposed the household survey in the village stating that the scope of the survey should only include the government land and not the private land.
Villagers protesting the location of South Korean steel major Posco's proposed 12 million tonne steel project near here blocked all major roads leading to the project site after Orissa government issued land acquisition notice.
As it pits itself against the sarkar and the "company" in a $12 billion stakeout, Latha Jishnu speculates about the future of a small village with an idyllic - but apparently doomed - way of life.
Posco-India has made it clear that it has no intention to shift the site of its 12 million tonne steel project.
Land acquisition for the South Korean steel major Posco's proposed steel plant near Paradip was completed on Thursday with the Odisha government demolishing 25 more betel vines at Gobindpur village, official sources said.
Instead of waiting for the government to do everything , the company has formed a crack team to persuade the villagers' opinion in their favour
Is it inconsistency in policy, or the lack of robust support?
The 2,500-hectares lease included both notified and non-notified areas.
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