FACT: A MoU with POSCO allows the South Korean steel giant to mine 600 million tonnes of iron ore over 30 years and set up a huge steel plant in the eastern Indian state of Odisha. For that, they need land. And they have acquired a bunch already.
But Gobindpur is not letting go. The village is now synonymous with the resistance to the POSCO investment. 2000 people strong, this village in the coastal district of Jagatsinghpur refuses to barter their generational livelihood for money that is perceived to be transient.
And what they are fighting for is this. Their decimals of "Paan baraj" or betel nut leaf vineyards. They call it "bhagwan ka patta" or "God's leaf" - not only is the leaf revered, but also the grove.
Each family owns about 10-30 decimals (1 decimal = 1/250th of a hectare) and earns about 3K-4K a month off of it. And they don't want to lose this.
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