Govt paper to clear Singur land issue

The West Bengal government today said a detailed paper on the acquisition of farmland at Singur for the Tata Motors project would be published soon.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said State Industry Minister Nirupam Sen had been asked to prepare the paper, which would be released shortly.

The CM, who met Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi on Thursday to discuss the Singur issue, today denied Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's contention that 387 acres were forcibly acquired from the Singur farmers. "No land has been forcibly acquired from anyone at Singur," he reiterated.

Claiming that the work on the project had already started, state industry secretary Sabyasachi Sen, however, refused to comment on when the land would be formally handed over to the Tatas. West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC), which owns the land, has given permission to the Tata officials to conduct an initial survey at the project site.

Meanwhile, state home secretary Prasad Ranjan Roy said prohibitory orders issued under Section 144 of the CrPC at Singur had been extended for the next 10 days.

The state government had clamped Section 144 in the area while carrying on the fencing work there.

Roy said two CID teams headed by IG-CID D P Tarania had already visited the project site to investigate the death of Tapasi Malik, whose charred body was found inside the fenced-off land acquired for the project. He said a CBI team had already begun its preliminary investigation in the matter.

The governor had on Thursday suggested a formula favouring dialogue on the "balancing of land use for agriculture, with land conversion for industry."