Singur leaders lack 'valid' land deeds

SINGUR: Name the sons of the soil who led the anti-acquisition stir in Singur 10 years ago in 2006. Two of them - Becharam Manna and Rabindranath Bhattacharya - don't have any land in the project area. And those who claim to have land don't have the papers in order. Krishi Jami Raksha Committee leader turned Zilla Parishad karmadhyaksha Manik Das and another leader Mahadeb Das top the list in the second category.Once heroes, they have now become a bother for the Mamata Banerjee government that plans to start giving physical possession of the Singur land to owners from October 17.
Land officials in Hooghly have identified a total 98 acres within the 997.11 acres of the deserted Nano plot for which papers of land ownership are not in order. While the villagers were busy celebrating the Lakshmi Puja, Mahadeb Das was busy on Saturday taking one of his relatives to the block land and land reforms office (BLLRO) in Singur. "I am going to attend the hearing for land ownership. My family has 12 bighas of land. But land officials didn't give us compensation cheques on the plea that our papers are not in order. I am afraid that a section of officials is not working properly. This is the plight of many unwilling farmers who are yet to get compensation cheques," said Das. According to officials, a total 411 so called unwilling land owners haven't received cheques as yet.
Hooghly Zilla Parishad karmadhyaksha Manik Das has six bighas of family land in the project area. "I have got some cheques though some are pending. I am not worried. We had participated in the land stir in public interest and will do whatever our Didi wants me to do," said Manik while distributing the Lakshmi Puja bhog to villagers.
There is a third category led by Beraberi gram panchayat prdhan Dipankar Ghosh. He has his papers ready but hasn't accepted the compensation cheques because the amount is less than those who willingly gave land to the government during acquisition. "Many unwilling farmers from Beraberi came to me urging for a better deal. They want at least the interest accrued on the compensation amount for the last 10 years. I have no defence," said Ghosh. Cheques for a total 33 acres are thus lying with the Singur block office. It is not without reason that all these leaders from Rabindranath Bhattacharya to Dipankar Ghosh wanted industry on the Singur land.
Trinamool minister Partha Chatterjee is well aware of the problem. "I am aware of it. I have asked the land department officials to examine the papers and sort out the problem fast. But then, the problem lies with 10% of the total land," Chatterjee said. The minister will be visiting Singur on Sunday to fence the 25 acres of land at Gopalnagar that will be handed over to the first batch of landowners. The Singur administration has already purchased cement pillars for the job.