Angul, Jan. 20: Nearly 200 families, who had given their land for the National Alumina Company Limited (Nalco) project in the district, have stopped water and coal supply to the company's plants and colonies, demanding job in the central undertaking.

Yesterday, hundreds of villagers under the banner, Talcher Surakhya Manch, staged a demonstration at the water pump station at Dasnalli on the bank of the Brahamani river and also stopped the supply. This is the only source of water for the project.

The agitators also blocked the railway track at Badajporada village to obstruct coal supply to the plants from Talcher mines.

'We are facing problem as our water reservoir can cater to the demand only till tomorrow. Today, we have to regulate supply to our colonies to avoid a total breakdown of supply,' said a Nalco official, who did not wish to be quoted.

On January 12, the demonstrators had met the district collector and apprised him of their demands.

Leader of the manch Lipun Bhukta said: 'No one in the state or the Nalco administration is bothered about our problem. Nearly 400 families under four panchayats are waiting for the jobs, which had been promised to us in the 80s. We want development activities in our areas and extension of medical facilities.'

Nalco authorities, however, said they were unaware of the demands as the villagers did not talk to them before taking the protest path.

'The villagers didn't tell us anything about their demands before going for the agitation. They only wrote to the district collector. It was decided by the Rehabilitation and Peripheral Development Advisory Committee to close the job options. Now, we are facing serious water shortage as they stopped the supply from the river point. The district administration should take some immediate measures,' said Nalco executive director S.K. Roy.

Talcher sub-collector S. Mkishra, however, said efforts were on to persuade the villagers to call off their agitation.