Goaltore exults while Singur speculates

GOALTORE/SINGUR: The birth of a dream at Goaltore's Durgabandh and an eerie calm at the deserted Nano land in Singur. The euphoria over land return in the five mouzas died down the day after chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced Goaltore among other palces as a possible destination for the Tata auto industry on Wednesday .
The CM's message instead became an engaging topic for both the willing and the unwilling farmers who came to the Singur weekly haat on Thursday afternoon.
The spurt in activity in Goaltore in West Midnapore on Thursday morning stoked the debate. Asok Ghosh of Beraberi did a quick analysis of the positional advantage of Goaltore vis-a-vis Singur. " As many as six railway stations, two highways cater to Singur.What does Goaltore have? The national highway is 40km from the Goaltore site," Ghosh said. Others nodded in the affirmative.
Wage labourer Amiya Mati isn't willing to give up. "The government hasn't touched the unfinished factory sheds yet. What does this mean?
There is a possibility of the Tatas coming back to Singur," said Mati.
They all have a point. The proposed site in Goaltore -170 km from Kolkata-isn't well-connected to the state capital like Singur. The nearest railway station from Goaltore is 35 km away , at Garbeta, while the other station, Chandrakona Road, is 37 km from the project site. Yet, this place has an advantage. It has a 950.17acre land with the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) spread over three mouzas -Nischintapur (652.20), Pinaraphuli (125.48) and Keshia (172.48)."There is no dispute over this land. Even those who had encroached upon 25 acres earli er, have been rehabilitated elsewhere. This apart, there is a ready source of water for industry here -Kansai and Shilabati, both rivers are within 10 km," said West Midnapore district magistrate Jagdish Prasad Meena.
The message has gone down the ranks. Upbeat with the CM's announcement, as many as 100 labourers working in the Goaltore state seed farm started clearing the shrubs in the area. Garbeta-II BDO Swapan Kumar Deb went to visit the spot. "We are in the process of preparing the land," the BDO said. The Midnapore zilla parishad has already taken up a proposal to give a blacktop to the road leading to the project site. "We have also placed a proposal to build a 132-KV power substation near the project site. We will place the proposal to power minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay when he vi sits Goaltore on September 19," said power karmadhyaksha Amulya Maity . Local Trinamool Kishan Cell leader Dulal Mandal welcomed the proposal. "We are ready to give all cooperation to the Tatas if they come," Mandal said.
Singur farmers were busy watching the development even after the land acquisition office there decided to distribute the land deeds to willing farmers on Thursday .At the same time, Singur police have been asked to lodge FIRs against 120 people who took compensation cheques faking their identity as landowners. But will happen to the wage labourers and the bargadars? Local Trinamool leaders, namely Becharam Manna and Rabindranath Bhattacharya, have all gone silent and are busy shirking responsibility. "We have told the CM about your problems," said Manna.