Oris-saga

Statesman, 9 December

Samiti ups the ante on Posco stir

JAGATSINGHPUR, Dec. 7: Holed up in Dhinkia for over a week, fearing assault by hired goons and police arrest, the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) has drawn the attention of the civil society and human rights activists. Fact finding teams are making a beeline to the area. The Nava Nirman Samiti and other organisations, who have been opposing the project in a more Gandhian manner, declared that they would launch a satyagraha in front of the collectorate from 14 December.

In Bhubaneswar, several sarvodaya workers and freedom fighters submitted a memorandum to the Governor, after expressing solidarity with NNS. Tomorrow the former Lok Sabha Speaker, Mr Rabi Ray, Mr BD Sharma and others are expected to apprise the media about their findings.

The plight of the women and the children in Dhinkia is said to be pathetic. They are living in fear. Prices of commodities have sky rocketed. They are afraid to go out of the village due to police deployment and the presence of goons whohurled bombs and attacked them at Balitutha bridge on 29 November. The anti Posco activists have blocked the road to Dhinkia to prevent police entry. Sources said that the condition of 10 persons injured in clash on 29 November, is bad. They cannot avail of treatment.

The daily wage earners who used to go to Paradip, Kujang and other nearby places on a daily basis are without jobs. The chairman of PPSS, Mr Abahya Sahoo, alleged that essential commodities are not reaching the village. Meanwhile, the convener of Bharat Jan Anodalon, Mr BD Sharma and his team, which visited the village today said that the moral of the people is high and they are determined to carry on their struggle. District authorities informed that PDS supply has not been disrupted. Last month’s quota had been given. They said that disruption in communication have caused problems.

Women to gherao PS over murder

JAGATSINGHPUR, Dec. 7: Peeved over police inaction and callousness, hundreds of women have threatened to gherao Erasama police station tomorrow.

The women are agitated over the fact that a widow had staged a hunger strike, demanding the arrest of the accused persons, who she alleged, had murdered her husband. She had also demanded a crime branch probe into the murder case.

The widow, Bharti Sahoo and her relatives, demonstrated in front of the Erasama police station for four days to voice their demands. The alleged murder had taken place on 3 October. Though three persons have already been arrested, the main accused is absconding.

Later the police requested them to vacate the place to take admission in
medical but they refused to take admission.

The police forcibly shifted the agitators and chased them which resulted in a clash. Kanan Parida, Manorama, Mani Mallick and Kamini Parida have been injured during the clash.

The Erasama police have registered a case against Mrs Bharti Sahoo under section 309of IPC, for attempting to commit suicide in the name of hunger strike.

White paper demanded on water allocation

BHUBANESWAR, Dec. 7: The Orissa development group has demanded a white paper from the government on the allocation of Hirakud water and the status of water distribution as a whole in the state. It has sent a letter to the chief minister on this issue. The recent agitation by the farmers in western parts of the state has opened a Pandora’s box. A detailed white paper report would help evolve a wider consensus and reduce tension. There is no data available. Allocation of water for industrial use is an important issue which has been overlooked. As a result of this, the forum feels that there is an urgent need to examine all the points. It is a well established fact that farmers would be deprived of water and agriculture would be hampered. Details of the volume of water impounded in the Hirakud Dam area on 1 October every year, including the water which is let out into the canals between 1 June and 30 of September should be provided.

This can tell the maximum quantity of water which was impounded in the early years when there was little siltation. A minimum amount of water has to be kept in the reservoir, which cannot be let out, since the canal heads will be above the water level. This is likely to go down over the years due to siltation. The white paper should also reflect the amount of water released every year, between 1 October and 31 May for irrigation and hydel power generation. Noting that agricultural demands for water continues to be high because of outdated technologies, the forum wanted the government to record the steps taken to modernise the existing sources of water and the efforts taken to check water waste. The forum has also demanded a detailed evaluation of watershed management which is being implemented as a part of the backward district initiative and backward regions grants programme.
The forum questioned whether the government has analysed the current reality of water flow and capacity and made attempts to compare it with the demands of industry and farming. It may be noted here that the forum had elicited response from eminent experts, before sending the letter to Mr Naveen Patnaik, who is in charge of the water resources department.