Paradip, July 13: Angry villagers rose in protest today bringing the project-related work to a grinding halt in the proposed Posco plant areas.

As the standoff continued, authorities of Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation and Jagatsinghpur district administration held a discussion to work out a strategy for smooth progress of project-related work and land acquisition process.

Neither a single tree was felled nor was a brick added to the construction work today. The officials beat a hasty retreat from the project sites with no ancillary work such as ground-levelling and sand-filling undertaken during the day.

Noisy scene was witnessed both in Nuagaon and Polang areas as villagers intercepted the officials asking them not to carry out the work. They pressed for fulfillment of demands. “First fulfill our demands. Then can the project work go ahead, “ slogan-shouting villagers said.

Though the villagers staged noisy protest and stalled the work today, police acted with utmost restraint and did not use force on protesters, said sub-divisional police officer Shantanu Kumar Das. “As the villagers persisted on us to stop work till the fulfilment of their six-point demands, we could not resume the work today. The protest was peaceful and democratic,” said special land acquisition officer Nrusingha Charan Swain.

The project-related work was earlier suspended in view of rath yatra. The work resumed for a day only on last Monday. The work was supposed to resume from today again.

“The administration has committed to fulfil the demands of the villagers by July 19. The administration has pledged in writing to consider the demands. The Resettlement and Peripheral Development Advisory Committee (RPDAC) meeting is being convened to settle the issue. There is no need for people to get restive. Till the demands are met, villagers need to cooperate with officials,” said Jagatsinghpur collector Narayan Chandra Jena.

“Why the government is in such a haste? It could hold up the project work and land acquisition process for some days to instil confidence in people. Demands such as employment to land-losers, revision of private and homestead land, betel vineyards and hike in compensation payment to landless labourers are all genuine which should be fulfilled at the earliest,” said Nirvaya Samantray, general secretary, United Action Committee, a pro-plant outfit.