Posco land acquisition stalled for two days

This came on a day the High Court issued notices to the Orissa government and Centre after preliminary hearing on two PILs,seeking stay on the land acquisition process and alleging illegal forest clearance granted in favour of Posco.

Nishakar Khatua and five others of Gobindapur village under Dhinkia panchayat of Jagatsinghpur filed the PILs,saying the forest clearance was given contrary to Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Recognition of Forest Rights Act of 2006. They said the forest clearance violated various other provisions of the Constitution.

Earlier on Friday,the land acquisition crawled at a snails pace as hundreds of villagers held meetings,demanding better compensation for their betelvines and permanent jobs in Posco to members of displaced families. They also asked fellow villagers not to cede their betelvines.

Betel vine farmer Bachha Behera of Nolia Sahi village,in Gadakujanga grampanchayat,reportedly agreed to let his betelvine be demolished by government officials on Friday morning. But soon after his 9,000 sq ft vine was demolished,Behera did a U-turn,apparently under pressure from the United Action Committee,a group of villagers protesting the demolition drive. Behera was taken to a meeting of UAC,where he said the demolition was done without his permission.