PARADIP: The situation in Govindpur village of Dhinkia panchayat turned ugly after the district administration dismantled 11 betel vineyards on Wednesday.
Villagers said the action was taken before consultation and fulfilling their demands. Alleging that the betel vine demolition was arbitrary and a part of the administration’s ploy to expedite land acquisition for the steel plant, the aggrieved villagers took a vow to protest the project by touching the ‘prasad’ from the Lokanath temple in Paradip.
Sources said, three meetings had been conducted in Dhinkia, Nuagaon and Gadkujang panchayats last month where villagers had agreed to lend support to the JSW project but only after their demands were fulfilled and a compensation package finalised.
Soon after, the administration had identified 11 betel vines of villagers in Govindpur for the land acquisition but it came as a shock for the vineyard owners when a team of administrative officials along with police destroyed the vines on the day, without consulting them or giving clarity on compensation.
One of the aggrieved villagers Ranjan Behera said he had voluntarily handed over his betel vineyard for demolition as he was incurring losses and was hoping for good compensation. “Posco had given a compensation package Rs 11,500 per decimal while JSW hiked it to Rs 17,500. Besides local youths will get employment opportunities in the plant but there was no clarity before the vineyards were destroyed,” he said.
Contacted, Erasama tehsildar C Pragyananda Das informed that four teams were formed for demolition of betel vineyards in Govindpur and Patana villages of Dhinkia panchayat . “We demolished 11 out of 12 vines. The villagers voluntarily gave their betel vines for demolition for the proposed steel plant,” Das said.