Bengal Govt. releases status report on Singur land acquisition

Kolkata, Jan 2 (UNI) The West Bengal Government today released a status report on land acquisition at Singur for Tata Motors' small car factory in a bid to record transparency in the face of the Opposition sponsored movement.

The report was published five days after Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee called off her 25-day-long hunger strike which she started in protest against 'forced acquisition' of land from farmers.

Giving details of land acquisition, the status report said altogether 997.11 acres of land had been taken over in five mouzas of Singur in Hooghly district. It also specified the dates and gave break-ups of the amount of land acquired in different mouzas.

Out of a total amount of Rs 119 crore earmarked for giving compensation to the land owners, Rs 83 crore had already been disbursed, the report said.

The Singur Krishi Jami Raksha Committee, a platform of 20 political organisations, led by Mamata Banerjee had been alleging that the Government had taken away about 400 acres out of the total acquired area without the consent of the owners. It demanded the land 'forcibly acquired' from the farmers be restored to them immediately.

However, denying persistently that any force was used in the land acquisition process, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had assured to release a status report to make public all details of taking over plots.

UNI