Tension at Posco site as villagers up the ante

It could be Nandigram all over again. Tension gripped the three panchayats near Paradip in Orissa on Wednesday as the state government sought to quell the villagers agitating against acquisition of land for South Korean steel maker Posco's mega steel plant.

The Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti, spearheading the agitation, has formed a Banar Sena brigade, made up of children below 14 years, who will be the first to face the armed policemen deployed by the state government.

Women and senior citizens will be the next in line.

Wary, the forces are stationed at Kujanga and Paradip, about 10-12 km from the Posco site.

The tension has increased in the last 24 hours following the deployment of 12 platoons of police for ensuring law and order in the area for the conduct of the postponed panchayat elections.

In the recently concluded three panchayat elections in the state, voting could not be held in 14 booths in Dhinkia panchayat, the nerve centre of anti-Posco agitation.

For nearly two years, the opponents of Posco plant in Dhinkia, Gada Kujanga and Nuagaon panchayats, have had barricades at eight locations around the Posco site, blocking the entry of government and company's officials.

Before the panchayat elections, the police was unable to enter the villages to take care of law and order, which was often flouted by repeated clashes between pro-Posco and anti-Posco supporters.

Posco has asked for 4004 acre for its 12 million tonne steel project in Paradip. Of this, the government land is about 3500 acre, while with the rest is privately-owned.

The project entailed displacement of about 400 families, most of which belonged to the Dhinkia village. But the villagers, along with those encroaching upon the government land, have put up a stiff resistance.

Posco, which signed the memorandum of understanding with the state in June 2005 and wanted to start work by April this year, has reportedly given a three-month deadline to the government to make available the land.

Meanwhile, the urgency to hold postponed panchayat elections has provided a reason to the government to deploy forces in the area and attempt to remove the barricades.

The Orissa State Election Commission has asked the state government to intimate it by April 20 whether it is in a position to hold the elections in Dhinkia.

"We are trying to persuade the villagers to remove the barricades. The lawlessness can not be tolerated in the name to agitation", says YK Jethwa, superintendent of police, Jagatsighpur.

However, according to Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti chairman Abhaya Sahoo, "The Barricades will not be removed at any cost."