Nandigram - Unrest over land acquisition in West Bengal
TOI, December 4
Singur, it seems, was only the beginning. Nearly 1,200 villagers in East Midnapore's Nandigram fought a pitched battle with the police on Wednesday refusing to let go of their land which the government proposes to acquire for SEZs.
They set on fire a police vehicle, injured five cops, prompting the police to fire several rounds in the air. Villagers claimed four among them were injured. The stand-off was still on till last reports, with the mob damaging the Jalpai bridge leading from Nandigram to Garchakraberia village, where the incident took place.
The police, who've since rushed with additional reinforcements, have been left stranded unable to reach the spot. Congress, Trinamul Congress and SUCI have called a bandh in Nandigram on Thursday.
The state government plans to acquire 19,000 acres of land in East Midnapore for the Salim Group's proposed SEZs. In addition, a few shipbuilding and repairing units are likely to come up as the area is close to Haldia port.
Matters flared up after a notice, purportedly issued by Haldia Development Authority CEO Pervez Ahmed Siddiqui, was sent to the gram panchayats. The notice identifies 27 mouzas of Nandigram-1 block for acquisition. Of these, 14 mouzas are to be completely acquired; the rest partially.
The state requires nearly 14,000 acres here and two other mouzas of Khejuri-2 block for the proposed projects. It plans to acquire another 5,000 acres in Mahisadal block for two more SEZs. The notice, cops said, fuelled rumours that district magistrate Anup Agarwal would visit personally to acquire the land. HDA chairman and CPM MP Laxman Seth alleged that the rumour was started "mischievously by Trinamul Congress".
Trinamul MLA Subhendu Adhikari denied this, claiming that "no such thing happened. What else would happen when acquisition lists are hung up at the gram panchayat office. The place of the incident — Kalicharanpur gram panchayat — will be fully-acquired. It was a spontaneous reaction".
Later, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said no notification "had been issued for land acquisition anywhere in East Midnapore — not even in Nandigram". Seth, too, corroborated the claim. "Such notifications haven't been made yet. It will be done in due course," he said.
Singur, it seems, was only the beginning. Nearly 1,200 villagers in East Midnapore's Nandigram fought a pitched battle with the police on Wednesday refusing to let go of their land which the government proposes to acquire for SEZs.
They set on fire a police vehicle, injured five cops, prompting the police to fire several rounds in the air. Villagers claimed four among them were injured. The stand-off was still on till last reports, with the mob damaging the Jalpai bridge leading from Nandigram to Garchakraberia village, where the incident took place.
The police, who've since rushed with additional reinforcements, have been left stranded unable to reach the spot. Congress, Trinamul Congress and SUCI have called a bandh in Nandigram on Thursday.
The state government plans to acquire 19,000 acres of land in East Midnapore for the Salim Group's proposed SEZs. In addition, a few shipbuilding and repairing units are likely to come up as the area is close to Haldia port.
Matters flared up after a notice, purportedly issued by Haldia Development Authority CEO Pervez Ahmed Siddiqui, was sent to the gram panchayats. The notice identifies 27 mouzas of Nandigram-1 block for acquisition. Of these, 14 mouzas are to be completely acquired; the rest partially.
The state requires nearly 14,000 acres here and two other mouzas of Khejuri-2 block for the proposed projects. It plans to acquire another 5,000 acres in Mahisadal block for two more SEZs. The notice, cops said, fuelled rumours that district magistrate Anup Agarwal would visit personally to acquire the land. HDA chairman and CPM MP Laxman Seth alleged that the rumour was started "mischievously by Trinamul Congress".
Trinamul MLA Subhendu Adhikari denied this, claiming that "no such thing happened. What else would happen when acquisition lists are hung up at the gram panchayat office. The place of the incident — Kalicharanpur gram panchayat — will be fully-acquired. It was a spontaneous reaction".
Later, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said no notification "had been issued for land acquisition anywhere in East Midnapore — not even in Nandigram". Seth, too, corroborated the claim. "Such notifications haven't been made yet. It will be done in due course," he said.
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