A day after West Bengal governor M K Narayanan welcomed the proposed chemical hub project at Nayachar, Railways minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, reiterated her opposition to the project. “There will be no chemical hub project at Nayachar. We will build an eco-tourism park,” assured Banerjee at the flag-off event to mark construction work for the extension of the Digha-Tamluk line to Nandigram.
Addressing the people at Nandigram, she said, the park would be built for the fishermen. Of the 12,240 acres that comprise Nayachar, around 6,000 acres fall under the coastal regulated zone (CRZ). Nayachar is part of 250 square kilometers or 2,5000 hectares required for the petroleum, chemicals and petrochemicals investment region (PCPIR), which was accorded by the Centre early last year.
Nayachar—around 40km from Nandigram—was chosen as the site for the chemical hub project after the West Bengal government relocated the project from Nandigram, following a violent agitation against land acquisition led by the Trinamool Congress. Nayachar happens to be a part of the Tamluk Lok Sabha constituency, which Trinamool Congress won last year.
Ironically, the governor said at an industry meet on Friday that the PCPIR project would open the doors for industrialization of Bengal. Nayachar is just another issue on which the Centre and its ally do not agree. Banerjee is also opposed to the joint operations at Lalgarh, the centre of Naxalite insurgency.
The development of Nayachar island is being undertaken by PCR Chemicals, a joint venture between the state government and the New Kolkata International Development (NKID), a joint venture between NRI industrialist Prasoon Mukherjee and Indonesia’s Salim group. The company has engaged consultants to explore alternative options such as eco-tourism and fisheries for the CRZ area while a separate marketing study would be conducted for the non-CRZ part.