Anti-Posco villagers protesters demonstrate in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Paradip, March 2: Government authorities in Odisha are gearing up to expedite the Posco steel project amid resistance from a section of people who land is going to be acquired for the project.

Officials said the forest clearance exercise would start afresh along with ancillary project-related work shortly.

Senior police officials held talks in Paradip yesterday chalking out strategy ahead of the project-related work. Posco India chairman-cum-managing director Yong-Won Yoon had a close-door discussion last week with the district collector and Jagatsinghpur superintendent of police.

The state’s chief secretary also had a discussion with the district administration recently for expediting the project work, said an official.

Posco authorities have decided to go ahead with the peripheral development activities in the project villages.

“The company’s top brass is very optimistic about the project and called upon us to resume the land acquisition process that has been halted for the time being. The state government is intent on resuming the land acquisition process and other project-related work,” said Jagatsinghpur collector Satya Kumar Mallick.

“Work would resume shortly. We are waiting for orders from the higher-ups,” he said.

Posco has decided to construct concrete road from Balitutha to Nuagaon, Balitutha to Gadakujang and Nuagaon to Gobindpur village. Besides, the company would take up peripheral development and construct a bridge at Baliyamara near Erasama. Construction work of the rehabilitation colony for the displaced people would also be undertaken by the steel company under the peripheral development projects, said the collector.

Three road projects covering about 12km would start shortly and the cost of the project would be borne by the steel company under its peripheral development activity programme.

The company officials have already finalised the detailed project report (DPR) at Gadakujang, Nuagaon and Dhinkia gram panchayats, the earmarked site of the steel project.

“The company is committed to usher in development of the local people. It is intent on safeguarding the livelihood stakes of people who are being affected by the setting up of the steel mill. That’s why, the steel company is undertaking peripheral development plan in project villages,” said Posco Odisha general manager D.N. Singh.

The peripheral development activities would begin shortly and the local residents would be engaged in the development project works, he added.

The steel company had earlier decided to exclude private land in the Dhinkia gram panchayat, the epicentre of anti-Posco agitation. They had also declared to downsize the project from 12 MTPA (million tonne per annum) to 8 MTPA and had expressed their readiness to start work on 2,700 acres instead of the original plan of 4,004 acres.

The state government claims to have acquired nearly 2,200 acres of land from the areas such as Nuagaon and Gadakujang panchayats. The state-run Idco has already handed over about 1,700 acres of the acquired land to the steel company.