Farmers Threaten to Intensify Stir Over Buxar Power Plant Land Compensation
Representational Image. (File Image)
Patna: Hundreds of protesting farmers demanding better compensation for land acquired for the under-construction Buxar Thermal Power Plant, in Bihar’s Chausa village, threatened to intensify the protest from October 17, when their agitation completes one year, on Wednesday.
A day after the farmers protested at the plant’s main gate, resulting in its closure and forcing most of the construction workers to return, things appeared normal—but they are not.
“Our protest at the main gate on Tuesday was successful as we didn’t allow the construction workers to resume work. If the project’s company continues to neglect and ignore our genuine demands for compensation for land acquired, we will permanently shift our protest to the main gate on October 17,” a farmer, Shivji Tiwari, told Newsclick.
Farmers have been protesting near Mura Baba Sthal, on the side of the Buxar–Kochas state highway since last year.
Another farmer, Vijendar Narayan Rai, said that farmers have been protesting for 360 days but nothing has happened till date. “It is a long protest for land compensation.”
The farmers said that they are demanding compensation as per the new land rate. Early this year, hundreds of farmers protested for days with the protest turning violent.
Last month, nearly 3,000 project workers protested for four to five days demanding increased wages and only eight hours of work. The workers struck work suddenly on September 21 to protest low wages and 12 hours of work.
On saturday, they started protesting in their residential colonies. The protest badly affected the plant’s construction for days.
The 1,320 MW plant, containing two units of 660 MW, is being constructed by SJVN Thermal Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam on 1,283 acres.
According to state energy department officials, the second unit’s construction is the Centre’s biggest project. The construction is expected to be completed by early next year with the plant put on trial in February and operations starting soon.
The project, whose foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 9, 2019, will use green field supercritical technology and cost about Rs 11,000 crore.
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