Paradip, July 21: Troubled Dhinkia gram panchayat, which has hitherto remained out of bounds for civil and police officials in the face of stiff resistance movement against Posco steel project, today witnessed unhindered entry of Central Industrial Security force (CISF).
For a change, entry of CISF personnel went unopposed by villagers as their visit had nothing to do with the land acquisition process or the project-related work.
With the consent of villagers who are still opposing the setting up of the steel plant, CISF personnel entered the village and recovered stolen materials from a couple of village ponds.
The materials, including cables, insulators, suckets and scraps retrieved by the personnel had been stolen some days ago from a nearby oil refinery construction site.
“Police are informed of CISF’s movement into Dhinkia. No untoward incident occurred during the recovery exercise,” said sub-divisional police officer Shantanu Kumar Das. But without the cooperation of local residents, the recovery act would not have been possible, said a CISF personnel.
“People here are all law-abiding. They are protesting police’s entry as they are engaged in assisting the officials in land acquisition process. There was no opposition when the CISF made their way into the village,” said Sisir Kumar Mahapatra, former sarpanch of Dhinkia gram panchayat.
With police failing to venture into Dhinkia, the hotbed of the anti-Posco movement, the place remains secluded and isolated from the rest of the areas. As a result, it has become a secured and hassle-free hideout for many criminals.
“As we are not intent on using force on people, we have refrained from moving into Dhinkia gram panchayat. We are not in favour of confrontation. On May last, some armed reserved police force had inadvertently entered into the area. The villagers had taken law unto their hands and had detained the policemen,” said a police official.
Meanwhile, the stalemate over the project-related work continued to remain the same today as it was on Friday when police had allegedly beaten up groups of protesters. The project work has failed to move an inch since then.
Officials continue to negotiate separately with groups of villagers. But the outcome has been inconsequential.
However, the administration is optimist of resuming the now-stalled project-related work either tomorrow or the day after. “We have been successful so far in convincing various groups. The project-related work would either commence tomorrow or on Saturday,” said additional district magistrate Sarojkanta Choudhury.
“The fulfilment of six-point demands related to revision of compensation and rehabilitation package for the land-losers have got delayed as the revenue divisional commissioner (central division), who heads the Rehabilitation and Peripheral Development Advisory Committee (RPDAC), is on leave. As chairman of the committee, he is empowered to take decision on the matter as per the Orissa Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy. After he joins on duty, the RPDAC meeting will be convened to settle the demands,” said Choudhury.
