Jajpur: Residents of three villages in Kalinga Nagar Industrial Complex in the district are seeking their relocation out of the industrial area.

More than 1500 residents of Harijanasahi, Tupasahi and Mouda villages want their relocation due to pollution caused by the Tata Steel plant in Kalinga Nagar.

Villagers said neither the private steel company nor the state government paid attention to their demands. "We have been demanding our relocation out of the industrial area for the last ten years as the pollution caused by the Tata Steel plant has made our life miserable. Plant authorities promised many a times that they would relocate us. But they deceived us and did nothing," said Sarat Chandra Malik of Harijanasahi.

Villagers have decided to oppose any new work in their village areas, Malik said.

The demand of relocation of these villages came to fore when the residents of the villages opposed transmission of extra-high tension (EHT) line by the Odisha Power Transmission Corporation Ltd (OPTCL) to Tata steel projects in the industrial complex area recently.

Tata Steel authorities decided to draw the Duburi-Jajpur Road 132 KV EHT line on its premises in Kalinga Nagar. Accordingly, the OPTCL entrusted a Bhubaneswar-based private firm with laying the cables in the areas.

Though work was initiated for erection of electric poles, it met with stiff opposition from the local residents. As a result, work on the project was stopped.

In a letter to the chief executive officer of OPTCL, the local residents of these villages alleged that they had been residing in the area for the last hundred years. Massive pollution caused by the Tata Steel in Kalinga Nagar has made their life difficult. As a result, they demand for their relocation out of the industrial area.

"Tata Steel which is operating in the close vicinity of our villages is causing air, water and dust pollution. The toxic pollutants emitted by this steel industry have made us prone to many diseases. This apart, they have damaged our agriculture lands and polluted water bodies," said a villager.

"We have been seeking relocation outside the industrial area and opposed attempts to erect extra-high tension lines by the Tata Steel but all our efforts have proved futile," said a villager.

Jajpur collector Ranjan Kumar Das said: "The OPTCL authorities has written to us on the matter and we are working to resolve the issue."