Raiganj: Farmers in Kaliyaganj of North Dinajpur district, under the banner of the Kaliyaganj Nagarik Adhikar Rakkha Committee, have reaffirmed their support for the long-awaited Buniadpur-Kaliyaganj Railway link on one crucial condition as fair compensation and proper rehabilitation for their land. At a meeting convened at Bochadanga on Sunday, presided over by committee president Pradip Sarkar, the farmers expressed readiness to cooperate with the land acquisition process initiated by Railway authorities.
It is reported that the construction of this 33.13 km-long new link track between Buniadpur of South Dinajpur and Kaliyaganj of North Dinajpur was approved around 15 years ago when Mamata Banerjee was the Railway minister. The new track in Kaliyaganj will cross nearly 11 km through different places of Dhankoil and Bochadanga Gram Panchayats and some parts of Kaliyaganj municipality areas.
However, in the face of land acquisition difficulties, the project came to a halt for more than 10 years. Around 3,000 acre of land is required from farmers of Kaliyaganj. Recently, a notification was issued by Railway authorities through district administration to acquire land from farmers.
Pradip Sarkar, the president of Kaliyaganj Nagarik Adhikar Rakkha Committee, expressed optimism over the development and said: “The farmers of Kaliyaganj and surrounding areas want the speedy implementation of Buniadpur- Kaliyaganj Railway link project.
We are ready to cooperate, provided we are paid actual us price for the plot and proper rehabilitation project to the farmers.
In our meeting held at Bochadanga in Kaliyaganj on Sunday, we took this decision and conveyed our decision to the District Magistrate urging him to consider the same.”