Mamata leads campaign for return of 400 acres of farmland
A year after Ratan Tata pulled the Nano car project out of Singur fresh tension is brewing in this sleepy town 40 km from Kolkata.
The tension surfaced after some officials from the Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) visited Singur for starting a power plant project there.
Predictably, Becharam Manna, the convenor of the Trinamool
Congress-backed Krishi Jami Raksha Committee, is leading the second round of protests for the return of 400 acres agriculture land. He said: “We are still against the forcible acquisition of land. A power plant is welcome but we are committed to our stand against acquisition of agricultural land”. He added: “We will now start breaking the boundary wall of the project area.”
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, who had forced Tata to relocate its Nano project from Singur to Sanand in Gujarat, made her stand clear by announcing: “The (BHEL) factory can come up on 597 acres but 400 acres have to be returned to farmers from whom land was taken forcibly.”
Senior officials from BHEL and West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd homed in on the site for a 1600 MW (two 800 MW units) power plant project. Sources said that BHEL had been working with different governments on setting up power projects. Currently, a project is being executed in Tamil Nadu. And a couple of months back, a meeting was held between BHEL officials and the Bengal chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti where a proposal was discussed regarding the power project.
Informing the press about BHEL officials' visit to Singur, power minister Mrinal Banerjee said: “BHEL can set up the power factory in Singur if it likes the place. But for setting up a power plant, we think Katwa would be the ideal.” Earlier the state government also had planned to set up a power plant jointly with the public sector Navratna in Katwa, Burdwan.
But it hit a roadblock as farmers opposed land acquisition. This time too things are looking difficult for the government after Mamata Banerjee renewed her proposal for a rail coach factory and demanding the return of the disputed 400 acres to farmers.
A year after Ratan Tata pulled the Nano car project out of Singur fresh tension is brewing in this sleepy town 40 km from Kolkata.
The tension surfaced after some officials from the Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) visited Singur for starting a power plant project there.
Predictably, Becharam Manna, the convenor of the Trinamool
Congress-backed Krishi Jami Raksha Committee, is leading the second round of protests for the return of 400 acres agriculture land. He said: “We are still against the forcible acquisition of land. A power plant is welcome but we are committed to our stand against acquisition of agricultural land”. He added: “We will now start breaking the boundary wall of the project area.”Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, who had forced Tata to relocate its Nano project from Singur to Sanand in Gujarat, made her stand clear by announcing: “The (BHEL) factory can come up on 597 acres but 400 acres have to be returned to farmers from whom land was taken forcibly.”
Senior officials from BHEL and West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd homed in on the site for a 1600 MW (two 800 MW units) power plant project. Sources said that BHEL had been working with different governments on setting up power projects. Currently, a project is being executed in Tamil Nadu. And a couple of months back, a meeting was held between BHEL officials and the Bengal chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti where a proposal was discussed regarding the power project.
Informing the press about BHEL officials' visit to Singur, power minister Mrinal Banerjee said: “BHEL can set up the power factory in Singur if it likes the place. But for setting up a power plant, we think Katwa would be the ideal.” Earlier the state government also had planned to set up a power plant jointly with the public sector Navratna in Katwa, Burdwan.
But it hit a roadblock as farmers opposed land acquisition. This time too things are looking difficult for the government after Mamata Banerjee renewed her proposal for a rail coach factory and demanding the return of the disputed 400 acres to farmers.
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