Here’s looking at you, Haldia

The results of the municipal polls held recently in Haldia, West Bengal, were decoded furiously by pundits of ‘national’ politics. Did the fact that the Left Front had retained control over the municipal board settle the issue? Some argued that the sharp fall in the Left’s vote share — by almost 17 per cent since 2002 — meant that its losses would return to haunt. There was talk, again, of the viability of the Mahajot. After all, in these polls, the notoriously divided opposition to the Left Front had banded together and posted a respectable electoral showing. But why should Haldia’s local politics matter at all to the country? Subrata Nagchoudhury unravels the reasons

• Why did a municipal poll in Haldia hog national attention?

The proximity of Haldia to Nandigram was one of the reasons why this poll seemed to be more than just another municipal election. It may be recalled that the West Bengal Government had proposed to acquire 10,000 acres of land in Nandigram as part of an SEZ. It was stalled following resistance by villagers that resulted in police firing on March 14 in which 14 were killed.

Geographically, Haldia is just across the Haldi river from Nandigram and the people here are heavily dependent on the port town for livelihood. The March 14 police firing in Nandigram was an important issue in the Haldia polls.

• Is there another reason why Haldia is politically significant today?

Haldia occupies an important position in the state’s industrial development plan. It is Bengal’s second port after Kolkata, designed to handle container cargo. It has also emerged as a hub of the chemical and petrochemical industries. The state considers this a promising sector in the context of national and global demands.

With its existing industrial units and potential for rapid growth in the future, Haldia is being considered as a site for a major chemical SEZ. The idea got a further boost when the government of India selected the Haldia region for setting up a Petroleum, Chemical, Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) covering over 62,000 acres.

The existing chemical and petrochemical units in Haldia already cover much of this 62,000 acres. The state government needs to identify about 10,000 acres more to seal the deal for which there are competitors. Accordingly, the state government has engaged M/s Dalal Mott Macdonald (DMM) through the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation...

Message*	Maximum characters allowed

Name*		Email ID*
Subject*		Country*

TERMS OF USE:
The views represented here are not endorsed by www.indianexpress.com. The person writing and submitting the comment is / are responsible for the content of comment. The comment should not have inflammatory, abusive, derogatory language or any language deemed unfit for publication. There will be time lag between the submission and publication of the comments. The website reserves the right to publish or reject any message.

I agree to the terms of use.

Mail this page

Here’s looking at you, Haldia

Related Stories: