Jarasingha villagers block a road near Angul town on Monday. Telegraph picture

Angul, July 23: Land losers of Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) today sat on a dharna outside its plant at Nisha here to create pressure on the company to meet their two-point charter of demands.

They are demanding jobs for all the evicted families, along with a compensation of Rs 50 lakh on each acre of land acquired by the steel major.

The JSPL is setting up an integrated steel plant here with an initial capacity of six-million tonne steel every year. The plant’s annual production capacity is likely to go up to 12-million tonne at a later stage.

Company sources said that notwithstanding the protest, construction for their project was continuing. In view of the mounting agitation by local residents, however, several workers of the plant have left the place fearing violence.

Residents of 40 villages, from which land was acquired by the JSPL for the project, sat on a dharna under the banner of Birankeswar Silpanchal Praja Samiti. The protesters blocked movement of all plant-bound vehicles by closing all entry points to it, barring one that links the plant with the township’s main gate.

In a related incident, Jarasingha villagers also staged a road blockade demanding inclusion of their village as a peripheral village by the JSPL. They also blocked movement of all plant-bound vehicles from Angul since this morning.

‘‘We were forced to hit the street as the government did not pay any attention to our demands. We will not relent until our demands are met. We will stop the movement of all goods into the plant by putting up road blockades at major entry points. The government should first announce the date of the meeting of the Rehabilitation Peripheral Development Advisory Committee (RPDAC),” said Loknath Pradhan, president of Birankeswar Silpanchal Praja Samiti.

“We are open to considering any legitimate demand. We will call them to discuss and sort out issues that are within the limits of the Odisha government’s policies. Though the strike did not affect the plant’s construction, it has hit the movement of goods. We have appealed to them to desist from the path of agitation and come to the talks table,” said JSPL executive director D.K. Saraogi.

Referring to the demand for adoption of Jarasingha village by the company, district collector Sib Prasad Mishra said the company had already accepted the proposal.