By IANS,
Raipur: Villagers and police personnel clashed at Chhattisgarh’s Korba district Saturday during a public hearing organised by authorities on a power project expansion plan of Lanco Group, officials said. More than 30 villagers have been injured.
The policemen who were deployed in dozens at the public hearing site resorted to baton-charge to control the swelling crowd.
Provoked by the police action, the villagers damaged police vehicles and the car of District Collector Rajpal Singh Tyagi, a police officer said.
Some 37 villagers have been reportedly injured in the police baton-charge.
The villagers had staged a road blockade since morning in and around the public hearing site, some 220 km from state capital Raipur.
Tyagi and Superintendent of Police P. Sunderraj shifted the venue of the public hearing in the afternoon and held it at Imlibhata village, about one km away from the original site.
“The public hearing was completed and roughly 25 people registered their views,” Tyagi told reporters.
The villagers have strongly opposed the expansion project and said they would not hand over their prime farmland at any cost.
Lanco Amarkantak Power Private Limited (LAPPL), a subsidiary of the Lanco Group, is planning to raise the capacity from existing 1920 MW to 3240 MW by installing two more units of 660 MW.
Sunderraj refused to comment on alleged police excesses on the protesters.
A public hearing scheduled for October last year was postponed after protests by the villagers.