Essar steel plant near Paradip. Telegraph picture

Paradip, July 28: The delay in paying compensation to those who lost their land to the six-million-tonne per annum capacity Essar steel project near Paradip has evoked sharp reaction from land-losers.

Villagers, who were invited for a public hearing, expressed their anger against the dilly-dallying tactics of the administration and the steelmaker.

In the recent past, villagers have staged demonstrations demanding immediate payment and have stalled project work in the process.

The affected land-losers squarely blamed the district administration for their plight while alleging that officials have connived with company officials.

The public hearing session held yesterday at Naugada gram panchayat was attended by district officials, company personnel, state pollution control board personnel, representatives of panchayati raj institutions and displaced villagers.

“The state government is facing stiff resistance from the people to acquire land for the proposed Posco steel project. But here, people gave away their land voluntarily. But the land-losers are being meted out a raw deal. Many displaced villagers are yet to be disbursed compensation for their land,” said Dilip Kumar Mallick former member of Nuagada panchayat samity.

Tofan Swain of Gramya Surakhya Samity charged the district administration of protecting corporate interest. “The interest of land-losers has been neglected. Essar steel management is not keeping the commitment to give the people their dues. On November 30, 2009, it was resolved in the rehabilitation and peripheral development advisory committee (RPDAC) meeting that Essar would complete land acquisition and disburse compensation at the rate of Rs 19.10 lakh per acre to those concerned by February 2010. In another RPDAC meeting later, the company was asked to acquire land and pay compensation by December 31, 2010. But the plant management continues to defy the RPDAC ruling while administration is doing nothing,” he said.

People from villages falling under the project area — Handia, Nuagada, Bhitargada and Bijoychandrapur on the outskirts of Paradip — attended the meeting.

Though 1,500 acres have been earmarked for acquisition for the project, the company has so far taken possession of 900 acres. But compensation has not been fully paid to land-losers.

Legal formalities like serving of land acquisition notices towards the owners of the rest of the land earmarked for the project is complete. The scenario is perplexing for the fact that the landowners have been issued notices that do not allow them to sell their land.

The protest against the dredging activity that is being carried along the Mahanadi river bed, also figured at the public hearing meeting. The scouring of sand from the river bed has triggered severe erosion in at least five villages near the steel mill, villagers alleged.

However, the district administration stuck to its stand that ongoing dredging activity would not result in river erosion.

Paradip additional district magistrate Saroj Kanta Choudhury said: “The delay in compensation payment has been mainly due to preoccupation of land acquisition and rehabilitation and resettlement officials with Posco project related work. The company has made the monetary deposit for the payment of compensation. But time constraints on part of officials have delayed the process. The technical study by the Mahanadi south division has ruled out possibility of river erosion due to dredging of river bed,” he said.