Land losers of Tata Steel project stage dharana
The people who were displaced due to a steel mill originally planned by Tata Steel at Gopalpur demanded a special package and stage a dharna in front of Ganjam collector’s office. Around 2,500 families who were affected, particularly from eight villages – Sindhigaon, Badapur, Patrapur, Paikapada, Kalipalli, Sindhu Nagara, Braja Nagara and Jyoti Nagara – have been on agitation since January 27. They demand permanent job for at least one person of each displaced family and a special package based on the rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) policy.
Tata Steel acquired around 2,800 acres of land in mid-1990s for setting up a mega steel plant. The company later decided to set up an industrial park there. “Neither the steel plant nor the industrial park has been set up in the area”, claims Jagannath Reddy, one of the agitators.
A spokesperson of Tata Steel said, “The company is in dialogue with the state government. The company has also given some suggestions to the government in this regard.”
Tata Steels have obtained environment clearance from the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) last year to set up 55,000 tonne per annum (tpa) high carbon ferro-chrome plant, 400,000 tpa rebar mill and desalination plant in the proposed industrial park. The company plans to invest around Rs 800 crore on these projects, which would initially create employment for 1,000 people.
Badapur, Braja Nagara, Ganjam, Gopalpur, Jyoti Nagara, Kalipalli, Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Paikapada, Patrapur, Sindhigaon, Sindhu Nagara, Tata Steel
