Paradip, Nov. 27: Nearly two-month-long impasse over the Essar steel project has finally ended with the company authorities agreeing to an on-the-spot employment of about 30 local youths from the landlosers’ families.

Construction of the six-million-tonne per annum capacity steel project had come to a grinding halt since October 12 as protesters had been squatting at the construction site for all these days.

“The impasse over the project has ended. The issues regarding the employment of local residents’ and related rehabilitation and resettlement plans have been settled with consensus. The company officials have provided immediate employment to local youths,” said additional district magistrate Surajeet Das.

“The steelmaker had been adopting dilly-dallying tactics since 2006, when it had begun acquiring land near Paradip for the project. The displaced landlosers had resorted to agitation on innumerable occasions. The company and the district administration were simply giving lip service while ignoring legitimate claims of the displaced families. But, people are now happy that the steelmaker has conceded our demand for employment,” said Tofan Swain, head of the Gramya Surakhya Samity, an outfit espousing cause of the displaced families.

The agitation that had begun on October 12 was withdrawn yesterday afternoon after 30 persons from displaced families were provided employment with letter of appointment at the agitation spot, Swain told The Telegraph.

There are about 700 families, who have lost their agriculture land because of the project. Over 300 families were rendered homeless as their homestead and cropland were lost to the steel project. So far, the company has provided employment to 200 families.

As per the Rehabilitation and Peripheral Development Advisory Committee guidelines, the company has committed to engage at least one person from each of the displaced family in a phased manner. The administration is quite optimistic that all the 1,000 displaced families would get employed in the company when it becomes fully operational.

“The company has deposited Rs 80 crore with the administration for payment of compensation and rehabilitation assistance. The landlosers, who are yet to receive relief, would be compensated from the said deposits. The construction for the rehabilitation colony would also be taken up next month,” said the additional district magistrate.

Protesting villagers were demanding, among other things, immediate payment of relief and implementation of rehabilitation package, employment for the landlosers’ families and establishment of resettlement colony.