The agitation against the proposed Posco steel project in Orissa's Jagatsinghpur district gained momentum on Monday with many prominent social activists, including Medha Patkar, opposing forceful land acquisition for the venture.

The activists visited Gobindpur village where hundreds of villagers had formed a human chain to prevent the entry of land acquisition officials and armed policemen.

Addressing the gathering at a meeting organised at the dharna site by Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti, the activists demanded that the State Government should immediately withdraw police force from the area.

Ms Patkar demanded that the Chief Minister, Mr Naveen Patnaik, also visit the villages where people were facing displacement due to the proposed 12 million tonne capacity steel plant and consider the demands of the agitators.

She also questioned the land acquisition process saying that the State government should not acquire any land for the project at present as the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Posco and the State government for setting up of the steel mill had expired in June last.

In another development, Mr Anadi Charan Rout, president of United Action Committee, an organisation supporting the steel project, resigned from his post weakening the support for the steel venture.

Meanwhile, the Government did not acquire any land on Monday as criticism kept growing in various quarters over use of police force to acquire land for the project.

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