Brokers make a beeline for Singur, land prices go up 3-fold in 10 years

SINGUR: Market forces have come into play in Singur weeks within the Supreme Court directed the state government to return the acquired “Nano land“ to landowners. Like other nearby stretches along the Durgapur Expressway , land brokers from outside have made a beeline for this prime Singur land with an offer of Rs 9 lakh a bigha -a threefold increase in prices in 10 years.In 2006, the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government had offered Rs 9-12 lakh for each acre (one acre is three bighas of land).
The target of these land brokers is primarily those land owners who are not solely dependent on these plots.One such person is a wellknown homeopath from Gopalnagar. He has already got an offer to sell out his land at the deserted Nano site. The news has already raised eyebrows in the local panchayat office. “We are flooded with proposals from land developers and small industries.This is a cause of concern for us, because money power can upset the land-owners' choice to get back to farming. Some want to buy the land for building apartments, while some others want the prime land along Durgapur Expressway to set up a godown for marble business. A soft drink company has also approached us to set up a bottling plant. We have informed our party higherups about the phenomenon.Left to ourselves, we will launch a campaign among villagers against land brokers,“ said Beraberi panchayat pradhan Dipankar Ghosh. Local land broker Sailen ahana is at a loss. He had ag Sahana is at a loss. He had aggregated huge tracts of land along the Expressway after the Tata project was announced in 2006. “Brokers from outside are coming with bagful of money. They have already approached many land owners,“ Sahana said. The price is hard to ignore for Netai De of Depara at Joymollah, a “willing farmer“ who owns three cottahs in the project site. “We sold the land to the government for Rs 9 lakh an acre. Now I am being offered much higher rates. I have told the panchayat to prepare my land deed. I will sell it out,“ De said.
However, unwilling farmer Jahirul Shiekh prefers to mer Jahirul Shiekh prefers to keep his land. “I am not going to give the land to promoters.We have got it back after much trouble. If need be, we will launch a stir again. I can give up farming only if I have a permanent income from the land. I am okay if some industry comes up on the project si te,“ said Jahirul.
But the land return process is less easy than said. Many of the land owners complained that their land deeds do not match with the pre-acquisition deeds. Unwilling farmer Paratap Ghosh, who owns a sizeable land parcel in the project area, alleged that the size of land has decreased by one decimal in the new deed. “I will go to the panchayat office with my original deed,“ said Ghosh. Safikul Sarkar, who gave up his land voluntarily in 2006, found to his dismay that the Singur administration has recorded one bargadar on a part of his land parcel when there was no such bargadar on his land.
“I will take up the matter with the administration. If necessary , I'll move the court,“ said Sarkar.
Minister Partha Chatterjee spent hours with Hooghly DM Sanjay Bansal and others over ways to sort out the problem. “There are some problems. The district administration is looking into it. So far, 60% of the records of rights have been distributed to the bona fide owners,“ Chatterjee said.
PWD's survey team in Goaltore
Goaltore: A six-member team of surveyors and engineers from the state public works department (roads) reached West Midnapore's Goaltore on Thursday to begin the survey work of the proposed construction of two 1km roads that will bring down the distance of the Durgabandh project site from the national highway. The purpose is to ensure better connectivity for prospective investors.