Project opponents handing over land; Odisha offers to withdraw cases against activists

After remaining suspended for about two-and-a-half months, land acquisition today resumed for Posco Steel’s Rs 52,000-crore mega project in Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district.

Ray of hope for farmers as CM does a rethink

MARGAO: There’s finally a ray of hope that farmers cultivating the fields in and around the once picturesque Salpem lake on the Margao-Navelim border will get their land back – more than three years after former PWD Minister Churchill Alemao proposed acquisition of the fields for expansion of the Margao sewerage project.

510 Hectare Acquired By State Govt For Township

Lucknow: Just when the Centre gears up to clear the way for the long-pending land acquisition bill, a group of farmers from five villages near Agra havestarted a protest march to Lucknow seeking return of their land acquired by the state government for a township tobedevelopedby theJaypee Group. The agitation comes close on the heels of resentment brewing amongst farmers in Bhatta Parsaul which saw a raging protest by farmers who have not only been demanding return of their land but also release of their leaders who were put behind the bars by the then BSP government.

2,100 acres already acquired, project needs 2,700 acres in Phase-I

The Odisha government said it has already acquired 2,100 acres of land for the Posco steel project. The government, through its nodal land acquisition agency - Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco), is hopeful of acquiring additional 600 acres for the project in the next four months.

The government on Thursday claimed it had reached a broad consensus over the Land Acquisition Bill after it agreed to two major demands of the opposition parties, clearing the way for its passage i

After weeks of hectic negotiations, the government on Thursday claimed to have clinched a broad consensus on the crucial Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, paving the way fo

Govt Intention Must Be Notified, Can’t Deny Building Permit Citing Future Plan

Kochi: Building permit cannot be denied citing plans to acquire the land for a public project in future unless such acquisition is already notified by the government, as specified in Land Acquisition Act, the Kerala high court has held. The decision by a division bench comprising Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice K Vinod Chandran was given while considering an appeal filed by a resident of Thiruvananthapuram.

Condemning the decision of the Revenue Department to resume land acquisition for the development of National Highway-17, a large number of people under the aegis of a local action council took out a march to the office of the tahsildar (land acquisition) at Vadakara on Wednesday.

The protesters, who boycotted the land document verification process by the department, said they would not cooperate with any acquisition activities until the government fulfilled the promises given to them on a proper rehabilitation package.

Korean Steel major Posco has moved a step closer to start work on the much-delayed $12-billion steel project in Orissa with the Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) likely to give it the assurance to supply full quantity of iron ore for the plant under a negotiated price if the Supreme Court order on the linked mines goes against the company.

Sources in the know said the state government has indicated that this option (iron ore at a cheaper negotiated price) could be worked out. The detailed discussions between the companies and government officials are expected to start soon.