A joint task force consisting of the officials of the departments of forest and revenue as well as police officials has been constituted to guard the 1000 acres of land already acquired for the project and to ensure that no betel vines are raised by the locals on this acquired land.
This was informed by the Revenue Divisional Commissioner (Central Division), Pradipta K Mohapatra. On the allegations of the Saxena committee on the violations of Forest Rights Act, he stated that the panel has been misguided by the activists of the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) on the land records. Certain land records presented by PPSS before the Saxena panel are not in accordance with laws, Mohapatra told reporters after emerging out of a meeting with the state minister for revenue and disaster management S N Patra. Many betel vines have already been demolished in Bhuiyanpal, Polang and Noliasahi in Jagatsinghpur district and the beneficiaries have been paid compensation, he added.
