Congress demands relocation of POSCO's proposed plant site

Expressing solidarity with protestors, the Orissa Pradesh Congress Committee today demanded relocation of the POSCO steel plant project from fertile land at Dhinkia to barren land available a little distance away.

"There is no problem in shifting the proposed plant from the present site. There are 6,000 acres of barren land on the other side of the river near Dhinkia," PCC president Niranjan Patnaik told reporters here.

Stating that Congress was against the use of fertile land for industry, Patnaik said that his party had been opposing forcible land acquisition for POSCO project.

AICC general secretary in-charge Orissa Jagdish Tytler also criticised the state government accusing it of using force to acquire land from farmers.

Replying to a question on the Centre's support to the POSCO project, Patnaik said that the UPA government or the Congress were never against industrialisation.

"The Centre wants POSCO. But the Congress is opposed to the present site selected by the state government," Patnaik said.

The Centre had not asked the BJD government to house the mega steel plant on fertile land and by destroying a well developed rural economy, he said.

The PCC chief said that his party MLAs had been making similar demands in the assembly.

Patnaik said that a Congress delegation would visit the proposed plant site where villagers were holding protests for the past 11 days.