Singur verdict fuels Posco land hopes

KENDRAPADA: The Supreme Court's verdict on Singur has boosted the confidence of farmers at the seaside villages in Jagatsinghpur district of getting their land back after the South Korean steel company virtually wound up its steel project last year in Dhinkia, Nuagaon and Gadkujang gram panchayats.
Expressing happiness over the apex court's ruling, Abhaya Sahoo, president of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) said: "The judgment of the Supreme Court has huge ramifications in the state.The state government forcefully acquired lands in Dhinkia, Nuagaon and Gadakujang gram panchayats for South Korean steel company Posco, claiming the steel plant will serve public purpose. But the Supreme Court clearly stated in its judgment that the acquisition of land in Singur for the Tatas was not for public purpose. The Supreme Court, while quashing the acquisition of land in Singur for Tata Motors project, directed that it be returned to the farmers as the law was violated by the then West Bengal government. The court also allowed farmers of Singur to keep the compensation amount which they received from Tata. We also hope the state government will return the acquired land for Posco to the farmers as per the ruling of the Supreme Court."
Chitaranjan Dash (58) of Noliasahi whose land was acquired by the government three years back, said: "We are delighted after knowing that the Supreme Court on Wednesday quashed the acquisition of land in Singur for the Tata Motors project. The proposed steel plant project of Posco was shelved. There will be no steel plant in our area and so we also want our land back."
The MoU between Posco and the state government was signed on June 22, 2005 to build a steel plant at the cost of Rs 52,000 crores. But after 11 years, the project has not moved an inch apart from acquiring 2,700 acres of land by IDCO, a government run organization.
"It is high time on the part of the government to hand over the acquired 2,700 acres of land to the farmers as per the Supreme Court's judgment on Singur," Prasant Paikray, spokesperson of PPSS, said.
"Though Posco had announced in July last year to shelve its steel plant project, the South Korean company has not completely given up hopes of building a steel plant there, due to which the Supreme Court's ruling on Singur is not applicable in the proposed plant site in Dhinkia and other villages," Subash Das, a lawyer from Kendrapada, said.