Wary of acquiring land,CPM halts JNNURM projects

“We cannot execute the projects after we suffered a electoral debacle. The state government is suffering for its land acquisition problems. So at present,we have been asked to stall the projects until the situation improves,” said Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya.

The issue has become so sensitive that in the last three years since the project was sanctioned,the civic authorities have been able to issue work orders for only 3,000 of the 14,000 dwelling units approved by the state government under JNNURM.

The dwelling units were supposed to come up at several slums in the city,including those at Hatgachia,Jalpara,Rajarghat,Kacharipara,Pagladanga I,Pagladanga II,Anandanagar and Topsia on the eastern fringes of the city and in Banerjeepara in south Kolkata. While the work has started in Rajarghat and Garden Reach areas,it is yet to begin in the other places.

“The Centre told us that we are the only state that is lagging in executing the BSUP projects under JNNURM. We cannot implement the projects as we have been restricted to do that by the authorities,” said a senior civic official.

Minister for Municipal Affairs and Urban Development Ashok Bhattacharya,however,refused to comment and said that issues are too sensitive for comment.

The Opposition feels the projects could have been implemented if the state handled the issue of land acquisition in a more transparent manner. “We were able to convince people to shift,as we did in the case of eviction in Gobindanagar Rail Colony,” said Sougata Roy,senior Trinamool leader.

In Birbhum,26 farmers held for trying to reclaim acquired land
In another land-related standoff between farmers and the government,26 people were arrested in Birbhum district on Wednesday for resuming farming on a 300-acre stretch that had been acquired from them in 2000. District officials said prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC had been imposed in Shibpur Mouza on Tuesday night after they got information of farmers’ intentions. Later,all were released on personal bonds,police said.

Acquired by the West Bengal Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (WBIIDC) for setting up an industrial hub in 2000,the land has not been put to use till now. The farmers then formed the Sriniketan-Santiniketan Krishi Jami Bachchao Committee,said to be backed by the Trinamool Congress. Police said trouble started when a large group of farmers violated the prohibitory orders and entered the area with farming tools. “They were intent on resuming cultivation. They said they wanted to reclaim the land,” a district police officer said. The government had paid Rs 68,000 per acre to the farmers,but committee leaders said that 60 farmers are yet to be paid. They believe the government plans to set up a housing project there as no entrepreneurial ventures were forthcoming. Birbhum district magistrate Bisheshwar Maity told The Indian Express that he was in touch with WBIIDC officials to fix a meeting between them and the farmers in the first week of July. ENS