Bhubaneswar: Activists and villagers opposing South Korean steel major Posco's project in Orissa Monday announced plans to intensify their protests from June 22.

The Posco Pratirodha Sangram Samiti (Anti-Posco Agitation Committee) has decided to observe a 'black week' from June 22, the organisation's president Abhaya Sahu told IANS.

It was on June 22 three years ago that the Orissa government and Posco, the world's fourth largest steel maker, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to build a $12 billion steel plant near Paradip port in the coastal district of Jagatsinghpur by 2016. It is said to be the largest foreign direct investment in India.

Sahu said his organization was also planning to hold a massive protest meeting June 23 at Balitutha, a village considered as the entry point to the proposed site.

Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat, Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary A.B. Bardhan and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Subash Marandi are some of the leaders likely to address the gathering there, he said.

Source : IANS