The Orissa government today halted the land acquisition process for the proposed Rs 51,000-crore steel plant near here, to be developed by Korean company Posco, after facing stiff opposition from villagers.
“The land acquisition and verification work, which began yesterday, was halted today due to opposition from people. We will start it soon after holding talks with villagers,” said N C Jena, collector, Jagatsinghpur.
Though the administration yesterday carried out land acquisition work and paid compensation to two betel leaf cultivators, the official team was prevented from entering Gada Kujang in the proposed project area during the day, as villagers blocked the main link road.
United Action Committee (UAC), the local body supporting the Posco project, is resisting land acquisition by the administration for not informing villagers.
“We oppose the land acquisition process before finalising rehabilitation package. Though the company had announced the package, UAC has rejected it seeking more assistance to the people,” UAC leader Tamil Pradhan said.