Essar displaced stall pipeline work

PARADIP: Hundreds of displaced families, including women, under the banner of Essar Steel Displaced and Land losers’ Society stalled pipeline laying work from Keonjhar to the plant site here on Friday over their demands. Ignoring the demands of displaced families and land losers, Essar authority had been undertaking construction work in the presence of armed police personnel for laying the pipeline. Earlier too the organisation had staged mass dharna by locking the main gate but called it off after the company authority intervened and assured to fulfil their demands. Their demands are yet to be met though.Enraged over the non-fulfillment of demands and lodging of false cases by the contractors, engaged by the company, the displaced families resorted to the agitation on Friday. They demanded disbursement of compensation to the land  losers,rehabilitation of the displaced and no outsiders in company. President of the society Bimal Patnaik alleged that the company which had acquired the land with a condition to provide jobs did not keep its commitment forcing the people to resort to agitation. Though the company had acquired 1268 acres of land in Udayabata, Handia, Bijayachandrapur and Nuagada villages, several persons of Nuagada have not received compensation.The displaced people accused the plant authorities of adopting policy not to recruit locals in all the appointments in their project in violation of the decision of the Rehabilitation and Peripheral Development Advisory Committee.A senior officer of Essar Steel said, “The plant management is sensitive towards the legitimate demands of land losers’ families and workers engaged in the plant. For factors beyond our control, payment of compensation to the displaced families is getting delayed. The company has made timely deposit of compensation sum with the administration.”  Special Land Acquisition Officer Nrusingha Swain, however,  said nearly 1000 displaced families, 70 per cent families of worst-hit Nuagada panchayat, have not received their dues because compensation amount of Rs. 56 crore has not been deposited by the company authority.