CPI to launch mass dharna to protest handover of mines to MNCs

Bhubaneswar, May 15 (UNI) The Orissa CPI today announced to launch statewide week-long mass dharna and demonstration to protest the Naveen Patnaik government's decision to hand over valuable mines and land to the industrial houses.

CPI state secretary Dibakar Nayak told newsmen here that the party would observe ''Save mines, land, water, forest and livelihood'' from June one to seven during which the party activists would resort to mass dharna in front of the state Assembly and District Collectorate offices across the state.

He alleged that there had been a conspiracy to loot the rich minerals of the state in the name of the industrialisation and the Naveen Patnaik government had sacrificed the interest of the state by handing over all valuable mines to the industrial houses violating all norms and at the cost of lakhs of farmers in the state.

The CPI leader said as per the MoUs, signed by the Naveen Patnaik government with various industrial houses, the mineral resources of the state would be completely exhausted in the next three decades.

Mr Nayak said the party had taken strong exception to the decision of the state government to hand over Khandadhar mines to South Korea Steel major POSCO for its mega steel plant and Niyamgiri bauxite mines to Vedant Alumina Limited, saying mining from these two places would destroy the most valuable forest wealth of the state upsetting the ecology of the surrounding areas.

Orissa, he said, would also face a severe water crisis, and irrigation system would collapse affecting the livelihood of lakhs of farmers if the big industrial houses were allowed to use water from the Hirakud reservoir and other major rivers of the state.

Mr Nayak said in the second phase of the agitation, the CPI would invite other like-minded parties in the state to launch a united struggle to save Orissa from being further exploited by the MNCs.

UNI