People protest demaning speeding up industrial project in Ganjam

BERHAMPUR: Villagers who had given up their land for the proposed titanium dioxide plant in Ganjam district staged a dharna in front of the district collector's office at Chhatrapur on Tuesday demanding an early completion of the project. This was in sheer contrast to other places where land losers are blocking plants, asking governments to return their land. Around 500 villagers from Tikiria Berhampur, Chandrapada, Maipatna and Kanabana participated in the dharna.

"We readily gave up our land thinking that the project would bring about a lot of development in the area. But four years have gone by and there's been no headway," complained Braja Mohan Acharya, adviser to the land losers' welfare association. "If the joint venture is not working out then the government should alone go ahead with the project," felt the president of the association, P Dharma Rao. The government acquired around 250 acres of land, including 200 acres from private parties, in 2007 for the proposed plant.  Land was acquired on time, but the project never took off.

Source: Times of India