BHUBANESWAR: Maintaining that the Biju Janata Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance Government had no right to hand over all the natural resources to different private companies, the Communist Party of India on Tuesday announced the decision to launch a week-long agitation for protection of the State's mineral wealth, forests, land, water and livelihoods.

At a press conference here, secretary of the party's Orissa unit Dibakar Nayak said the party would organise dharnas and demonstration outside the State Assembly starting June 1.

Similar programmes will be organised at all the 30 district headquarter towns in the State to expose the `nexus' between the Naveen Patnaik Government and corporate houses.

Stating that Orissa's mineral reserves was not going to last forever, Mr. Nayak said companies such as Vedanta and POSCO should not be handed over bauxite and iron ore mines respectively for captive use.

With regard to iron ore, Mr. Nayak said no steel company should be given mines on lease. With the companies taking the mines on lease for captive use, the State was getting only Rs. 26 per tonne of iron ore extracted as royalty when the market price per one tonne of iron ore was between Rs. 2,000 and Rs. 3,000, he added.

Alleging that Chief Minister was playing to the tunes of the corporate houses, Mr. Nayak said Mr. Patnaik was out to allow the companies loot the State's natural resources in the name of development.

Similar was the case with allotment of water and land to a host of companies setting up various mineral-industries. He appealed to other Opposition parties and social organisations to launch an agitation to save the State from the hands of private companies and ensure judicious use of the mineral resources.

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