SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Feb 3: Demanding immediate stoppage of the release of chemicals into village rivulet and removal of outside labourers, a group of 70 villagers of Chhatatand Panchayat on Friday sat on hunger strike before the Hindustan Urvarak and Rasayan Limited (HURL) Sindri plant.
Doli Hansda, chief of Chhatand Panchayat, who is leading the agitation, said that villagers have today begun a hunger strike. If HURL management does not act on demands in three days, the villagers would kick start fast unto death stir from February 6.
HURL Sindri plant, which has come up in place of the Fertiliser Corporation of India (FCI) plant, is an ambitious plant of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who laid the foundation on May 25, 2018.
The plant which started commercial production in November has a production capacity of 3,850 tonnes of neem–coated urea per day.
Today, in the morning, as per the pre-announced programme, hundreds of local villagers of different panchayats reached the HURL gate and sat on a hunger strike.
Dipak Mahto, the spokesperson of agitating villagers said that the chemical released by the HURL plant has made village Joria ( rivulet) water poisonous. Cattle are becoming victims of it daily. So villagers demand management must stop this immediately.
Agitators alleged that outsiders have been deployed in the plant ignoring the genuine claims of local people.
“FCI had built on our land in 1948. HURL has been set up on the property of FCI. So villagers demand employment in the plant. Since local villagers have been affected by the production in the plant, they should be given jobs in production-related work,” said Dipak Mahto.
Dola Hansda said that it is a village problem-related agitation and the political party has nothing to do with it.
HURL Sindri vice-president Dipten Ray and HR manager Vikrant Kumar did not receive calls but a senior official of the plant, requesting not quoted name, said that for time being productive and dispatched have not been affected by the agitation.
