There is trouble brewing for the West Bengal government over the choice of land for the proposed second terminal of the Kolkata airport and for the proposed mining in Deuchapachami in Birbhum. In both cases, the land is necessary, and the Mamata Banerjee government is torn between acquiring the land or evicting the people.
The second terminal of the airport was proposed to be constructed within 30km from the present Kolkata airport in Dum Dum. Chief secretary H.K. Dwivedi had conducted a survey and decided that it would be at Bhangar, which is just 10km from Rajarhat in Kolkata, and falls within the stipulated minimum distance of 30km from the present airport.
But it was in Bhangar that a fierce land battle was allegedly ignited by Maoists in 2018, which halted the installation of a power project. The protesters created a free zone near Kolkata, as a result of which Mamata Banerjee had to crack down on them heavily. Scores of people were arrested under the UAPA act. The violence rocked the state as it took as many as 12 lives.
The land agitation committee has now refused to allow the land acquisition. Sources said Banerjee held a meeting with a Naxalite leader Alik Chakraborty, who is still facing UAPA charges in the Bhangar case but is now on bail. Chakraborty denounced the official report and choice of the chief secretary. He could not be contacted over phone.
Mosharaf Hossain, another leader of the Bhangar land acquisition movement, told THE WEEK: “Who is the chief secretary? Is he relevant here? What Alik Chakraborty told the CM during meeting after that chief secretary’s report is meaningless.”
The opposition has demanded that the proposed airport could be set up at the uncultivated land of Singur with “enhanced compensation”. But the problem is land there also would need to be reacquired as the land of Tata had been returned to resenting farmers. Banerjee would not want to make the same mistake as her predecessor Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
The West Bengal government is toying with the idea of setting up the airport at Kalyani, 60km from Kolkata. But the Central government might not agree to that as the airport would be an extension of the old airport.
At Birbhum, the villagers of Deuchapachami are also resenting against the biggest mining of the country to be done there by Coal India. It would bring a windfall for the cash-strapped government. But the people there are resenting saying they would not leave the villages to pave way for the private mining company to mine coal.
“Come what may, we will fight. We have support from many organisations,” said Swapan Dhar, one of the resenting villagers. A save-land committee has also been formed there.
It seems like the land movement which brought Banerjee to power is now haunting her.
