Thousands of people under the banner of the Essar land losers’ and Displaced Welfare Society (EllADWS) staged a dharna before the Essar plant main gate here disrupting the activities of the plant.
The agitation was led by society chief advisor Santosh Pattnaik and former Paradip Municipality Chairman Govinda Chandra Tarai. The society’s 12-point charter of demands included compensation to the land losers at the earliest. It said the company is yet to pay compensations amounting to `40 crore.
It demanded that the obstruction of the villagers’ fishing and other activities be removed and environmental pollution be checked immediately.The agitators decried the company’s alleged methods of appeasement to some local politicians to deprive the villagers of their dues. They protested retrenchment of local technically educated youths on flimsy grounds and demanded their reemployment. Society president Satya Mohapatra, general secretary Gyana Mohapatra and treasurer Sai Shankar Mohanty organised the protests.