Singur impasse ends: Mamata calls off agitation

Kolkata, Sep 7 (UNI) Ending the impasse over Singur through a negotiated settlement, the West Bengal Government today agreed to offer maximum amount of land for rehabilitation of the land losers while Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee called off her indefinite dharna near the Nano project site.

Announcing this at the end of a three-day session of conciliatory talks between the two sides, West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi said a committee would be formed to finalise the modalities within a week, while the state Government would urge the vendors for ancillary units not to make any construction.

''The Government has decided to respond to the demands of those who have not received compensation, by means of land to be provided to the maximum within the project area and the rest in adjacent areas as early as possible,'' he said.

''It is the victory of industrialisation and development in West Bengal,'' Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee later said in a statement.

However, claiming victory for her party and the associate outfits, Ms Banerjee said it was also a victory for the people.

''We have been able to extract land not only for the farmers who were unwilling to give away land for the Nano project but also for all the land losers,'' she told reporters.

The end to the 15-day-long impasse came after three days of discussions between the Government and the Trinamool Congress-led opposition that culminated to a face-to- face dialogue between the Chief Minister and Ms Banerjee in presence of the Governor.

Eds: Here pick up suitably from earlier series.

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