April 02, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 24, 1429

BHUBANESWAR (India), April 1: Police in eastern India briefly detained hundreds of villagers on Tuesday as they protested against South Korean firm POSCO’s plans to build a steel plant they say will force them off their farmland.

At least 5,000 villagers, many carrying bows and arrows, shouted slogans at the proposed site and vowed not to allow work on the $12 billion plant, which would be India’s largest ever foreign investment, to begin.

Protests have slowed the project in mineral-rich

Orissa state and the government has so far been able to acquire only about a quarter of the required 4,000 acres (1,600 hectares) land.

The project could displace 20,000 people, protesters say, while advocates say it will create jobs in an impoverished part of the country.

The stand-off over the project reflects a larger anger among Indian farmers fighting to save their land from factories as the country’s economic priorities shift from agriculture to industry.

“We are fighting for our rights and will continue this till our last breath,” Abhay Sahu, a protest leader, said.

Police and government officials said at least 200 villagers, some of whom broke through a security cordon, were detained while they marched to the factory site in Orissa’s Jagatsinghpur for a meeting but all were later released.

Protesters said more than 300 had been held.

Last month, POSCO said procedural delays continued to dog the project, and construction work which was supposed to begin on April 1 would again be delayed.

Industry sources say the problems related to obtaining an iron ore mining lease and forest land needed for the plant.

But on Tuesday the steel major said it was still hopeful.

“We want the project to come up in a peaceful manner,” POSCO spokesman Shashanka Pattnaik said.—Reuters