Naveen rubbishes Jairam charge, denies coercion

BHUBANESWAR:  A day after Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh advised the State Government not to acquire land for the proposed Posco steel project in a forcible manner, the State maintained that force was not used for the purpose. The State Government believed in peaceful industrialisation, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said, adding that force was not used for land acquisition. “I have often said that we believe in peaceful industrialisation,” Naveen told mediapersons on Monday. The Government is constantly monitoring developments at the proposed plant site, Naveen said and added that appropriate steps will be taken. Steel and Mines Minister Raghunath Mohanty said  there is no question of using force when people are giving their lands voluntarily. “We have not and will not use force for acquiring land for Posco or any other industrial project,” Mohanty said, rejecting allegations made by Congress and CPI leaders. Replying to a question on the deployment of 23 platoons of force near Gobindpur, the entry point to Dhinkia gram panchayat, Mohanty said about 200 families living in that area had expressed their desire to hand over their land for the purpose. “The villagers have already submitted their applications to the District Collector expressing their desire to give land for the project,” he said. As some outsiders were preventing the 200 families from handing over their land, police were deployed to help them out, Mohanty said. Of 3,719 acres of land required for Posco project, the Minister said the State Government had already acquired 2,000 acres in the illegal possession of the people in Gadakujang and Nuagaon gram panchayats. Only Dhinkia panchayat was left, he said. About 1,400 acres of forest land were in illegal possession of people in Gobindpur and Dhinkia which would also be retrieved through peaceful negotiation with the people, he said. Claiming that the State Government was confident of acquiring rest of the land in a peaceful manner, the Minister said only 152 acres of private land were required for setting up Posco’s proposed 12 mtpa mega steel plant.