Commendable job by Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee: Santosh Mohan Dev

Kolkata, May 25 (UNI) Even as the opposition in West Bengal is holding the chief minister responsible for the Nandigram fiasco on land acquisition for chemical hub, Union Minister Santosh Mohan Dev today praised Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for a ''commendable'' job.

Asked about his reaction to the ongoing row in connection with the Nandigram issue, the Heavy Industries&Public Enterprises minister said, ''The chief minister has already said that an alternative location for the chemical hub will be identified.'' He further said a state could not survive with ''sick industries'' alone.

''New industries must come up and as a chief minister, he is doing his job well,'' Mr Dev asserted.

''The state government and the Centre should work closely to help Bengal occupy a prominent position in the country's industrial map,'' he said.

Incidentally, Nandigram remained a political hotbed for more than four months over the issue of setting up of a chemical hub, wedging a sharp political divide among the local people, triggering unabated violence even though the Left Front Government later backed out on the project.

Refusing to die down, the unrest stalled all economic and development activities in the area and even denied the writ of the administration to run in Nandigram which virtually remained cut off from the rest of the state with members of the Trinamool Congress-led Bhoomi Uchched Protirodh Committee digging up roads and keeping vigil against entry of outsiders.

Altogether 23 people, including 14 killed in the March 14 police firing, died in the area since January last while more than 4,000 people had been evicted and hundreds of houses torched in the continuing armed rivalry.

UNI