Kolkata, August 31
Responding to West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi’s request, Mamata Banerjee today agreed in principle to “come to the negotiating table” for resolving the Singur crisis. However, she insisted that Tata Motors should be satisfied with the 600 acres allotted to them for the Nano plant.
Mamata told the Governor that she had been “officially conveyed” by authorities of Tata Motors that they would need only 600 acres of land allotted to the company for their Nano plant. She suggested that the ancillary industries, for which 400 acres were earmarked, be shifted on the opposite side of the Durgapur Highway, only about 150m from the Nano plant.
Mamata communicated these suggestions to the Governor through a 16-member delegation of the 21 parties fighting for the farmers’ cause that met him at Raj Bhavan today.
Mamata said at the dharna manch that she had received a letter from the Governor last night in which he “requested” her to come to the negotiating table and she had readily agreed. But as a compromise formula, she suggested that the shifting of the ancillary industries from the Tata Motors project site could be a solution.
The government should also agree in principle to return the land to the unwilling farmers and discussions could be held about the modalities of returning the land
for talks and also the shifting of the ancillary units.
Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had welcomed Mamata’s willingness to come to the negotiating table but ruled out any possibility of returning land to the farmers. The shifting of ancillary industries to any alternative place was also not possible, he added.
External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, now in the city, said the Centre would not intervene in the Singur crisis since it was “a problem” between the state government and Tata Motors. But he wanted that Nano car project at Singur was not dropped at this stage as it would give a wrong signal to all other investors.
He asked the CM to come out with a reasonable proposal that would serve the interests of the affected farmers and also Tata Motors.
Meanwhile, the eighth day of agitation at Singur today witnessed many people at the dharna site and the vehicular traffic on the adjoining Durgapur highway also remained suspended for yet another day. However, National Highway Authority officials were not at the site for removing encroachments from the highways as per the Calcutta High Court’s order.
