No force being used to acquire Posco land: Orissa CM

Amid allegations that the Orissa government is forcibly acquiring land for Posco's mega-steel and port project near Paradip in Orissa, chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday said no force was being used, and the people had voluntarily given up the land.

"I have often said we believe in peaceful industrialisation," Patnaik told newspersons in Bhubaneshwar a day after union environment minister Jairam Ramesh told the state not to use force to acquire land. "The state government is constantly monitoring developments at the proposed plant site and would take appropriate steps.''

Rejecting allegations made by Congress and Communist Party leaders, state steel and mines minister Raghunath Mohanty added, ''There is no question of using force when people are giving their lands voluntarily. We have not and will not use force for acquiring land for Posco or any other industrial project.''

Replying to a question on the deployment of 23 platoons of security forces near Gobindpur, the entry point to Dhinkia gram panchayat, Mohanty said it was because outsiders were creating trouble.

He said about 200 families living in that area had expressed their desire to hand over their land for the plant.

''The villagers have already submitted their applications to the district collector expressing their desire to give land for the project,'' he said. ''As some outsiders were preventing the 200 families from handing over their land, police were deployed to help them out.''