Mamata hits back at CPI-M on land acquisition charge

Diamond Harbour (WB), Feb 10 (PTI) Hitting back at CPI(M),which accused her of grabbing land for setting up projects,Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee today ruled out any forcibleland acquisition for rail ventures in the country.

"There will be no forcible acquisition even if the projectdoes not come off, and for the little land acquired by theRailways we will offer jobs to people who lose their plot,"she said.

Her remarks followed criticism by CPI(M) and other leftparties that the Railway Minister, who claimed herself achampion of land losers, had been grabbing land for setting upprojects in the state.

Banerjee was speaking at a function here after kicking offthe 2,000 acre land reclamation process for the Rs 3,000-croreport at Sagar island.

The Trinamool Congress chief flayed the state governmentfor "misleading and bluffing the public" by putting up "bigadvertisements" and hoardings.

"They blame us for the railway advertisements, but theCPI(M)-led Left Front government has been making tall andfalse claims about the progress of the state ahead of theAssembly elections," she alleged.

"The kind of progress it claims is ridiculous," she said.

Banerjee promised rail connectivity to the proposed portand said the project would ensure overall development of theSunderbans region.

The port would be built on public private partnershipmodel but land reclamation will be done by the Kolkata port.

The land reclamation process will take some 7-8 monthsinvolving a total investment of Rs 100 crore and the KolkataPort Trust proposes 10-11 jetties for cargo handling in theport.