Survey for land in Nandygram, HC orders Govt to file status report

Kolkata, Jan 5 (UNI) The Calcutta High Court today directed the West Bengal Government to file a report on its land acquisition policy while the administration carried out a preliminary survey for taking over land in Nandigram.

A two-judge bench of the court, comprising Chief Justice B S Sirpurkar and Justice Arun Kumar Gupta passed the order on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by an agriculturist asking the Government to submit the report in two weeks.

The court directed the government to specify in its report the details of the land it had acquired and how much payment it has made as yet on the acquisition of land. The court also wanted to know the status of the land and for what purpose the land was acquired.

Meanwhile, Industry Secretary Sabyasachi Sen said a preliminary survey had been conducted at Nandigram in East Midnapore district to identify land to be acquired for two proposed Special Economic Zones of the Indonesian Salim Group.

''But no notification for land acquisition has yet been issued and we are exploring possibilities to exclude habitats in the take over move,'' he told mediapersons after a high level meeting convened by West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to review the situation at Singur and Nandigram in the wake of the recent violence in both places.

Besides the Chief Minister, Chief Secretary Amit Kiran Deb, Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Ray, the Industry Secretary, Director General of Police and Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) among others atteded the review meeting.

Mr Ray said the government had information about arms being smuggled into the area for a ''militant movement,'' but police would not conduct any immediate raid awaiting the situation to cool down.''We will go for necessary action after the situation becomes normal. Though additional police forces have been deployed in the area temporarily, they would go for arrests after the tension is eased out,'' he told reporters.

The Government has already acquired 997.11 acres of land at Singur in Hooghly district for the proposed small car factory of Tata Motors' while there is a proposal to take over more than 20,000 acres spread over several villages in the Nandigram area.

While the Trinamool Congress and several other opposition parties, including the Naxalites launched a 'Singur Bachao'movement opposing acquisition of land from farmers, a violent mob went on a rampage in Nandigram on Wednesday last injuring 14 policemen in an agitation against the reported move for acquiring land for SEZs.

Though the Government denied having issued any notification for land acquisition and described the violence as a deliberate act, tension was still simmering in the area with villagers digging up roads, felling trees and putting boulders to prevent anybody to enter from outside.

UNI