Ten years after Tata Motors exit, Singur in West Bengal still a wasteland

Curtains came down on Tata Motor's Nano project in West Bengal on October 3, 2008

Thirty-four-old Samit Ghosh works at a pharmacy of Swasthya Nivas Nursing Home in Singur. It’s not the kind of job he had dreamt of 10 years back while training at the Tata Motors’ plant before it decided to pull out. But on October 3, 2008, Tata Motors pulled the plug on manufacturing the Nano out of Bengal, leaving behind a rubble of dashed hopes. 

Ghosh was one of the 267 local residents selected by Tata Motors for training. He did his practical training, first at the Singur plant, and later in Pune. In the last 10 years, Ghosh has made peace with his career. 

But in Singur, his is not the only story of a broken dream. 

During peak construction activity, the Nano project employed around 4,000 people. Add to it, the policemen guarding the site, it all translated into a flourishing business for Neelima Das, who had put up a makeshift foodstall.

“I would make Rs 7,000-8,000 a day. My husband had a job, but it became so remunerative, he started helping out with this,” she said, recalling the good times. The margins were close to 40 per cent. 

Work conditions at the plant started deteriorating from August 24, when Mamata Banerjee (now chief minister) and her party laid an indefinite siege to the area around the plant. Soon the Bengal intelligentsia descended and as did activists Medha Patkar and Anuradha Talwar.

Tata Motors suspended construction and commissioning work at the Nano plant early September after five days of continuous cancellation of work. 

The curtains finally came down on the project early October, when Ratan Tata, then Tata group chairman, announced in Kolkata the regretful decision to move the Nano project from Singur to Sanand had been taken.

The plant at the time was 80 per cent ready. Thirteen vendors had also finished constructing their plants, and 17 others were at various stages of construction.

Much water has flown since. The watershed event was the Supreme Court verdict in August 2016, which said the acquisition of land in Singur by the Left Front government of West Bengal in 2006 for the Nano project was illegal as it had violated the procedure laid by the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. The court ordered the land to be returned to the owners in 12 weeks.

With much fanfare, Chief Minister Banerjee handed over cheques after the apex court ruling. She had also promised to make the land cultivable.

Two years later, a fraction of the site is lush green with paddy; the rest — acres and acres of it — unkempt. How much of the near-1,000 acres is cultivable? There is no single truth here.

“Willing” land loser Udayan Das puts it at 50 acres; surprisingly it matches with “unwilling” Bikash Das’ estimate. Mahadeb Das, who had also lost land to the project and refused to collect his cheque, puts it at 300 acres. Mahadeb is also a prominent local Trinamool leader. 

Bikash has been able to cultivate four cottahs of his total land of 1.5 bighas (1 bigha=14,400 sq ft). But Mahadeb is less lucky. The 11 bighas that he owns with two other brothers is not yet cultivable, he says. Regardless, by virtue of belonging to the “unwilling” camp, Bikash and Mahadeb continue to benefit from Banerjee’s doles: 16 kilos of rice at Rs 2 a kilo per plot owner and Rs 2,000 a month. 

Government sources at the local level, however, tell a different story. “The entire land is cultivable,” they say. “But who will cultivate? Even at the time of acquisition, many people were not connected to farming and today a large number of people have alternative sources of livelihood.” 

Udayan Das, convener of Singur Shilpa Bachao Committee, who willingly gave 13 acres for the project, points out that he belongs to 80 per cent of the people who were for the project.

Das further says a large number of people have not taken possession because the land is not cultivable. Government sources, however, say that figure would not be more than 150 acres and primarily because the land owners don’t live in Singur or don’t have proper land records.

Banerjee, who has left no stone unturned to keep her promise to Singur, a movement that brought her to power, is doing her best. Significant resources have been pumped in. Tubewells have been installed across the land; the state government has invested in filling sections of the land by at least a foot. Land filling is an expensive proposition, merits mention.It had cost Tata Motors quite a bit to develop the land.

“If people have problems with their land, they should come to us. For the 150 acres, we are inviting applications, issuing notices, but these people are either not residents or don’t have proper records. Rest of the people, if they have any issue, we are ready to discuss,” say government sources.

For Rabin Rui Das and Shyamal Ghosh, who claim their land is not cultivable, the project plot was written off a long time back. It’s not something they are looking to write back.

From Nano to no-no: Singur to Sanand

May 18, 2006: Tata Motors announces Nano plant in West Bengal

August 24, 2008: Mamata Banerjee starts dharna at Singur

September 2: Tata Motors suspends work on Nano plant

October 3: Tata Motors decides to move out of Singur

May 20, 2011: Banerjee sworn in Bengal chief minister, announces decision to return 400 acres to unwilling farmers

June 14: Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Bill, 2011, passed in the Assembly

September 28: Calcutta High Court upholds Singur Act

October 29: Tata Motors challenges the order

August 6, 2012: West Bengal government moves Supreme Court (SC)

August 31, 2016: SC quashes land acquisition for Tata Motors in Singur