Swains Posco SOS to Rahul

BHUBANESWAR: Former MLA and Congress leader Umesh Swain has requested AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi to visit the Posco project site to see the pathetic condition of the villagers who have been continuing their struggle to save their homes and livelihood. In a letter to Rahul, Swain said his visit would not only save the people of the area but also help the nation escape a big trap called Posco in the name of development. Rahul will skip Dhinkia, the epicentre of the anti-Posco agitation, during  his two-day visit to the State which started on Wednesday. Conditional support extended by him to the Posco project while interacting with a group of tribals at Jharsuguda has made the situation all the more difficult for the State Congress leaders who have extended support to the anti-Posco campaign. Alleging that thousands of armed police personnel have been deployed in the area to suppress the anti-Posco agitation, Swain said children had also joined the dharna at Gobindpur in Dhinkia gram panchayat opposing the project.  He said the decision of former Union minister of state for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh according final forest clearance to the project has made the situation murkier. He alleged that even though the villagers had moved court over the matter, the State Government has started land acquisition armed with the forest clearance order.  Stating that so far no systematic study has been made to find out the likely impact of the plant and the proposed captive port, Swain said the use of highly-sophisticated FINEX technology would not create many jobs. “I hope you will agree with the questions raised in many quarters that India, for that matter Orissa, stands to gain virtually nothing after sacrificing so much and doling out so many tax benefits to Posco,” he said. Swain said he would not have sought the intervention of Rahul but for the reason that the plant by the South Korean company is being sought to be established in a highly fertile agricultural land through blatant violation of law of the land by the elected government.