Orissa villagers cut off for backing steel plant

 DHINKIA: It is a picturesque Indian coastal village off the Bay of Bengal,  lush and green. But the villagers here are starving without one proper  meal a day.  About 200 villagers of Dhinkia in Orissa state have been shunned for  welcoming India's largest foreign direct investment, a proposed $12  billion steel plant by South Korean steel giant POSCO.  The handful of pro-industry supporters have been banned from fetching  water from the wells or buying rations and vegetables from local shops in  Dhinkia, about 140 km east of the state capital, Bhubaneshwar.  “We want POSCO to set up a plant here so that our children get jobs. But  we are being punished for no crime,” says 60-year-old Hara Sutara, wearing  a torn pink sari, her voice quivering from days of no food.  A year ago, the world's fifth-largest steel maker, POSCO, signed an  agreement with the Orissa government to set up a steel plant with a  capacity to produce 12 million tonnes a year.  Availability of raw materials such as iron ore and coal and a booming  domestic market drew the global steel major to Orissa. But thousands  protested, saying the project would drive 20,000 villagers from their  homes and farms.  But the government says the plant would affect only 500 families and  create thousands of jobs. Pressed to get the project moving, the  government last month convinced a handful of villagers not to side with  protesters.  NO FOOD OR WATER  But thousands of angry protesters urged village elders to pass an order  cutting off food and water to those siding with the POSCO project.  “They went against popular will and are paying the price and whoever sides  with them will pay dearly,” Abhaya Sahoo, the leader of the anti-POSCO  movement, told Reuters.   Nrusingha Charan Sahoo, a shopowner who disobeyed and sold rice to a few  starving people was fined 5,000 rupees, while villager Babaji Sahoo was  fined 500 rupees and his goat auctioned for not turning up at a protest  rally last week.  Senior district official Satyabarata Sahoo told Reuters he had asked the  police to step in. "We are trying to help, but the situation is too  tense," senior Police officer Amarandra Panda.  POSCO officials in Bhubaneshwar say they have asked the government to  tackle the issue. "We are extremely sorry for them, and hope the problem  is solved," POSCO official Soo Jung Kim says.  Meanwhile, Maguni Kandi, 70, and some of her fellow villagers are living  on reserve food. Others are eating backyard vegetables and buying some  rations from more remote villages. "On most days, we are starving with  hardly a morsel of boiled rice to eat," Kandi says

--

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You are not what you do , you do what you are

One's profession and career should be their  hobby, passion and cause

 

Sudarshan Rodriguez,

Project Consultant,

UNDP-GoI Post- Tsunami Environment Initiative

Flat 2B, Adithya Apartments,

38 Balakrishna Road,

Valmiki Nagar,Thiruvanmiyur ,

Chennai-600 041

Tamilnadu, India.

Phone:+91 44 420 19470

Mobile: +91 9840680127

Fax: +91 44 420 19468

 

Email: sudarshanr@yahoo.com