Firhad Hakim visits Singur to take stock of land survey work

Watch towers will be set up to keep an eye on them. The decision has been taken after people not associated with Singur were found to be loitering on the land. Also, the work is on to restore the land to its original cultivable condition and the presence on people on the land might affect their work.

Firhad Hakim, state Urban development and Municipal Affairs department minister, on Monday visited the site and inspected the progress of work. It may be recalled that before leaving for Italy and Germany, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had told the press that everyday one minister would be present to supervise the work.

The workers are busy cleaning the land and till date around 250 acre of land has been cleaned. The proposed factory of the Tata Motors would have come up on 997 acre of land. The workers involved with 100 days work under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme would be engaged to level the ground. The willing farmers would get back money and the unwilling ones would get back the land as well as money. Work to identify each plot holder is being done.

But the biggest question is whether the farmers would carry on with the agriculture or will they sell the land to set up industry. As the present generation is not interested in agriculture there, they feel that industry should be set up in Singur.  Amal Ghosh, a graduate from Beraberi area of Singur said: “As the young generation is not interested in agriculture, they would prefer industries to come up in Singur. “Even if the farmers sell their lands they would be doing so as per the market price and that is not forcible taking of land. This will give a clear message to the industrialists that they will have to invest in land to set up their industry. The industrialists will get the message that to start industry in Bengal, they will have to buy land at market price,” a senior state government official said.

But by and large, the people of Singur are very happy and are waiting for the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to come to the area and address them on September 14. The state government is working hard so that some land belonging to the unwilling farmers could be handed over to them by Banerjee to mark beginning of returning of land to the farmers of Singur.