KALINGA NAGAR, Orissa: After holding up traffic on the Daitari-Paradip Express Highway here for the last 14 months, tribals opposed to displacement for industrialization in the area lifted the blockade past midnight, officials said.
Around 60 tribals, a large number of them women, conducted an elaborate "puja" at the spot near Ambagadia village where the blockade had been continuing for 431 days at midnight. The rituals continued for about 45 minutes after which they removed the stone slabs piled up on the road to allow traffic.
The tribals, agitating under the banner of the Bisthapan Virodhi Jana Manch (BVJM), had started allowing small private vehicles on the expressway from October 24 but had debarred trucks from using the same.
The expressway, considered an economic lifeline as it linked the mineral rich hinterland of Sukinda area of Jajpur district and Keonjhar district with the Paradip port, could not be used by mineral bearing trucks which had to make a detour. However, circumspect truck drivers had not ventured to use the portion of the highway which had been opened, the sources said.
The tribals, who had been negotiating with the administration and appeared inclined to lift the blockade after receiving on Tuesday the severed palms of five victims of the January 2, 2006 police firing, a vexed issue since the incident, demanded enhanced compensation for the families of those killed blurring the prospects of a settlement.
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