Paradip, Oct. 3: Betel vine cultivators and labourers at Dhinkia are now lending a helping hand to their counterparts in neighbouring Nuagaon and Gadakujang areas in Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha.

The labourers, who were rendered jobless following the dismantling of vineyards last year, are now finding work at the betel vineyards.

As the land acquisition exercise for the proposed Posco steel plant could not be carried out in many areas of Gobindapur, Patana and Dhinkia following people’s resistance, many betel vines have still remained intact.

“We did not support the steel project. However, villagers in many other areas supported the project. Their betel vineyards were pulled down. Since then the betel vine labourers of those areas had been sitting idle. We have now engaged them in our vineyards,” said Arakhita Behera, a Dhinkia resident.

“Betel vine cultivation is still a major source livelihood at Dhinkia. Through their resilient struggle against land acquisition, local people have managed to save their betel vineyards. People of other villages, whose betel vines were pulled down to pave way for the project, asked for the help of betel growers at Dhinkia. While the Odisha government has not done anything for the project-affected villagers, the people of Dhinkia have come forward to help them,” said Sisir Kumar Mahapatra, former sarpanch of Dhinkia gram panchayat.

The villages affected by the steel project have lost more than 700 betel vineyards to land acquisition exercise last year, while Dhinkia still has a rich reserve of over 600 betel vineyards.

“The Odisha government is keen on making up the loss of livelihood of the betel vines labourers at the earliest. The labourers who were working in betel vineyards and have been affected by land acquisition project have been identified. They would be covered under rehabilitation and resettlement package,” said Surajit Das, additional district magistrate of Paradip.