Alternative site for chemical hub in a week

Kolkata, Mar 28 (UNI) The West Bengal government will inform the Centre in a week an alternative site for the proposed chemical hub after withdrawing it from Nandigram, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today said.

''We told the Centre today that the state government would inform in seven days an alternative location for the chemical hub. The project is badly needed,'' he said, while speaking at a congregration of students and youth, organised by the Students Federation of India (SFI) and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the frontal wings of the CPI(M).

The Chief Minister said his government had said in the past that the chemical hub would not be set up in Nandigram against the wishes of the local people. ''Now we say it will not come up at all. But we need it badly and it will be set up elsewhere,'' he said.

He informed that the state government had already signed an agreement with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the anchor investor, for the proposed chemical hub.

Owning the entire responsibility for the death of 14 people in the Nandigram police firing, Mr Bhattacharjee said his government would go ahead with the industrialisation move, but it did not want bloodshed in the process.

He also appealed to the Opposition to stop violence and not to obstruct the Government's development plans.

''Under no circumstances do we want blood to spill over industrialisation drive. We have learnt lessons from Nandigram and whatever wrong was done there, I take on myself the responsiblity on behalf of the state government. We do not want deaths. A human being is a human being,'' he said.

After the last week's Left Front meeting, this was for the second time that Mr Bhattacharjee owned responsibility for the Nandigram incident as head of the government.

''But I also appeal to those opposed to us not to attack Left supporters. They too are human beings,'' he said.

The Chief Minister said what his government wanted was development and growth, both in industry and agriculture. And the persistent obstruction to the move would send wrong signal elsewhere in the country and in abroad.

''Our state has 1.35 acres of agricultural land. Efforts are on to further increase productivity. But we can not depend solely on agriculture for economic growth because there will be no employment generation without industry,'' he said.

Asserting that land reforms in West Bengal would continue, Mr Bhattacharjee said his Government would shortly distribute 'pattas' for 30,000 acres of land among landless farmers.

UNI