Paradip, May 18: The land acquisition work for the 12-million-tonne Posco steel project was resumed today amid tight security.

With 10 plantoons of police keeping watch 1.52 acres were acquired by demolishing 11 betel vine enclosures. Sources said 10 plot owners had received Rs 17.55 lakh as compensation. While there was no resistance from the United Action Committee (UAC), which had threatened non-cooperation, the protest rally organised by the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti turned out to be a damp squib.

However, farmers were seen pleading with the land acquisition officials for enhancing relief. “The genuine demands of land losers would be taken into consideration at a high-level meeting to be chaired by the revenue divisional commission (central) on May 30,” said Jagatsinghpur collector Narayan Chandra Jena.

Special land acquisition officer Nrusingha Swain said that those, cultivating betel on the encroached forestland, themselves came forward to accept compensation. “There was no protest either from the landowners or from the villagers of Polang. The entire exercise was peaceful,” he said.

“There were about 30 betel plot owners who had turned up and expressed their willingness to give up their land. But, we could hardly acquire land owned by 10 farmers,” said Swain after the first day’s acquisition exercise had come to an end around 12.30pm.

Project director of the rehabilitation and resettlement Sujeet Das said though some of the plot owners had played truant, today’s acquisition was done with the owners’ full consent.

“I presented myself before the team and identified the plot. They verified my claim by way of a GPS machine. Then the fenced betel vines were measured by manual tape measurement. The special land acquisition officer paid me a cheque for Rs 1.42 lakh. I gave up the land willingly though some UAC supporters had persuaded me not to take part in the process,” said 39-year-old Sarbeswar Beuria, a betel farm owner from Polang village. Beuria’s vineyard measured 12.4 decimal. The payment is being made at the rate of Rs 11.50 lakh an acre.

Some betel farmers are still demanding enhanced compensation and better livelihood support package. “We are ready to part with our land, but not before the government makes an announcement about increasing the relief. The sum of Rs 11.50 an acre for betel plots is too meagre to lose our livelihood source permanently,” said Debabrata Swain, a betel vine grower.

UAC secretary Nirvaya Samntaray said: “We will launch our protest movement from tomorrow. We think the government is deliberately delaying settlement of the compensation issue. By the time we sit for talk with the revenue divisional commissioner (RDC), all betel vines would have been demolished.” The meeting with (RDC) is scheduled for May 30.

The Samiti rally at Balitutha drew 500 people despite the presence of senior Left leaders such as, Janardan Pati and Dibakar Nayak.

“Displacing people from their ancestral land is violation of human rights. The Centre and the state have connived with the corporate houses to render poor people homeless. People would continue to resist the project peacefully,” said CPM state secretary Pati.

Back in Bhubaneswar, the CPI (M-L), the CPI (M-L) Liberation, the CPI (M-L) New Democracy and the SUCI held a demonstration. They later submitted a memorandum to the governor.