Jagatsinghpur, Orissa: Hundreds are leaving Orissa's Jagatsinghpur district in search of work following clashes between supporters and opponents of South Korean steel giant Posco's proposed plant.

Many of the poor in the area feel that development work in the region has come to a standstill due to the continuing clashes between villagers over the setting up of the mega plant in the district. "We have no choice but to leave in search of jobs," said Sukant Behera, 35, of Dhinikia village. "If we stay on, there is no guarantee we will get any work here. Besides, we have to support either the protestors or supporters. If we support one group the other group will become angry," said Behera. Behera and seven of his friends were waiting at a bus stand to go to Andhra Pradesh to work as labourers.

Posco, one of the world's biggest steel-makers, signed a deal with the Orissa government in June 2005 to set up a steel plant near Paradeep by 2016 with an investment of $12 billion.

Those who oppose the project claim that it will affect over 20,000 people from around 15 nearby villages, not only displacing them but also ruining the betel leaf farming that is their main source of livelihood. "At least 500 people from the affected villages have migrated over three months either to other states such as Maharastra, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab or to other districts in Orissa in search of livelihood," said Nirvaya Samantray, convener of the Posco Jansamapark Bikash Parishad, which supports the proposed plant.

Protestors have erected nine wooden entry gates to prevent government officials from entering their villages. Similarly, protestors have ostracised 40 families for backing the steel plant. Eight families who supported the plant have left their villages after repeated threats, alleged Samantray. A woman said on the condition of anonymity that anti-Posco activists attacked and threatened to kill both her and her husband. He works at a construction site in Paradeep and she is a maid in a government official's house.

"We have registered at least 100 cases against more than 300 people for clashes," said Amarendra Parida, a police official. Residents claim that development work in the region had come to a standstill. Local officials deny this.