KENDRAPARA: Residents of seaside villages under Mahakalapada block in Kendrapara district on Friday staged a dharna in front of the tehsil office seeking ownership rights on land possessed by them on the proposed steel plant site of Arcelor Mittal Nippon Steel (AMNS).
The protesters, under the banner of Ramachandi Krusak Kalyan Samiti, submitted a seven-point charter of demands to the tehsildar.
Coordinator of Ramachandi Krusak Kalyan Samiti Tarunkanti Kanjilal said the state government had granted them land pattas in 1976 and they have been paying rent for the same since then. “However, the district administration cancelled all the land pattas recently and refused to accept any rent with the ulterior motive of handing over our land in Ramanagar, Kharinashi and Batighar to AMNS for setting up a steel plant there,” he alleged.
Farmers’ leader Ramaniranjan Routray said around 3,000 farmers had applied for land pattas before the tehsildar. “However, it’s been over a decade and none has received the documents yet. After getting the pattas, farmers are entitled to receive proper compensation for their lands. We are not against the establishment of a steel plant but we need proper compensation for that,” he said.
Kendrapara sub-collector Niranjan Behera said the district administration has granted land pattas to many people under the Forest Rights Act and rejected the claims of those who are not eligible.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik during his tour to Japan had announced that Nippon Steel Corporation (NSC) decided to build the world’s largest steel plant in Odisha.
On March 3, 2021, the state government signed an MoU with AMNS for setting up a 12 MT integrated steel plant in Kendrapara district at an investment of Rs 50,000 crore in presence of CM Naveen Patnaik and steel magnate Lakshmi Niwas Mittal.
Later on August 21 the same year, Mittal visited the seaside villages under Batighar GP and other areas to take stock of the land available for the proposed steel plant.