PTI reported that it is now the betel leaf farmers of a cluster of villages around Paradip in Orissa who now stand in the way of the Indian footprint of a global steel behemoth.

Mr Abhay Sahu president of POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti said that “The villagers earn their living by exporting betel leaves to countries like Maldives, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. A single leaf fetched them Rs one and one acre of betel vine was worth IN 1 crore per annum. There are about 2,900 betel vines in the area giving daily employment to 6,000 people.”

Dhinkia gram panchayat sarpanch Mr Sisir Mohapatra who is also the secretary of the Samiti said that "We will not allow an inch of our fertile multi crop land for the industry. We have a flourishing and sustainable agrarian economy.”

Ms Manorama Khatua a woman activist opposing the POSCO project said betel leaves from Dhinkia had a special appeal to people in Mumbai and Kanpur.

Demanding shifting of the plant site, the Sangram Samiti in a memorandum to chief minister said that "Betel cultivation in the past had successfully driven out the Integrated Test Range from Baliapal to Chandipur area in Balasore district."

Five years back when South Korean chaebol POSCO signed an MoU with Orissa government to set up a INR 51,000 crore mega project near Paradip. POSCO India which needs 4004 acres of land to set up its 12 million tonne per annum Greenfield project, failed to acquire an inch of land in the eight villages in three gram panchayats of Dhinkia, Gada Kujang and Nuagaonas even as the MoU with a five year validity period lapsed.

(Sourced from PTI)