Mamata announces new industries near Singur alongside bountiful harvests

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday announced several road projects for the area, including one that will connect Singur to North Bengal and also offered prayers at the temple of Santoshi Mata that she built at Bajemelia village.
The state government will construct a road connecting South with North Bengal at an estimated cost of Rs 3000 crore, she said.
The proposed project, starting from East Midnapore via Jayrambati Kamarpukur, will reach Moregram in East Burdwan and then go towards Murshidabad, further connecting North Bengal.
She also virtually inaugurated the Kamarkundu flyover that passes over the tracks of the Eastern Railway.
Banerjee said as the Railway minister she had proposed the construction of the Road Over Bridge (ROB) worth Rs 54 crore. The state government has given Rs 34 crore and the land for the same.
She said a coach factory is coming up in Hooghly and another factory will be set up at Hindustan Motors in Uttarpara. Several agro-based industries have come up in areas surrounding Singur and more will be initiated in near future.
Recalling her long-drawn agitation in Singur against the forcible acquisition of farmlands by the Left Front government to set up an automobile factory, Banerjee narrated how she was stopped by the Hooghly district administration on her way to Singur from Srirampur.
On September 2, 2006, she was thrown out of the BDO office. "They threw me out of the office. I was hit on the chest. I have not forgotten those days," she said, adding:
"During my 14 days of dharna in Singur, Swapan Debnath used to bring vegetables from East Burdwan, Subhashis Batabyal used to bring fruits and the whole of Singur had backed the movement." She invited Saraswati Devi, lovingly called Matangini Hazra, who used to attend the dharna every day. Fourteen camps were set up and she used to get in touch with the leaders every day, she said. Banerjee also said that during her 26-day dharna that began on December 2, 2006, at Dharmatala, she prayed to Santoshi Mata so that the farmers could get back their lands.
"The farmers won the legal battle and got them back their lands following the Supreme Court order. It then struck me that I should construct a temple to thank Santoshi Mata in Singur. Accordingly, I requested Becharam Manna, one of the leaders of the Singur movement and now the minister of state for the Labour department, to allot a small plot to set up the temple. It was set up in 2019. I have observed a ritual (brata) for 16 weeks and I have come to the temple today as the 'brata' has come to an end." She also distributed sweets and offered food to children at the temple premises.
Banerjee said: "I love to visit temples, mosques, churches and gurdwaras. Religion is a private feeling."
Trinamool Congress MPs Kalyan Banerjee, Aparupa Podder, MLAs Ratna Dey Nag, Asima Patra, Karabi Manna along with Tapan Dasgupta and Dilip Yadav also attended the meeting.