Officials begin survey of land in Singur

After land survey, field survey would start and on completion of that process, the land owners would receive their respective lands

A day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said farmers in Singur will get back their land within the time-frame set by Supreme Court, officials, Friday, began survey of the land acquired by the erstwhile Left Front government for the Tata Motors's Nano project.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress's local unit celebrated 'Singur Divas' elsewhere in the agrarian belt of Hooghly district raising slogans in support of chief minister and Singur land movement "spearhead" Mamata Banerjee.

The team which included district magistrate, Hooghly, Sanjay Bansal, Superintendent of Police Praveen Tripathy, additional district magistrate (land reform) Purnendu Maji, block development officer Singur Suman Chakraborty and Block Land Records Officer Prabal Bagol first began surveying the deserted Nano compound area.

As the labourers began cutting bushes and jungles with tractors and harvester equipment, the team started measuring the land which will continue for 3-4 days, a senior member of the team told reporters.

After land survey, field survey would start and on completion of that process, the land owners would receive their respective lands, the official said.

The land survey will take about two weeks, the official said, adding another team from Directorate of Land Record and Survey would reach Singur with modern equipment latest by Monday.

Meanwhile, TMC men were busy observing 'Singur Divas' in different parts of the place, known for its multicrop fertile land, led by leaders of then 'Kristi Jami Raksha Committee', formed in 2006 to protest erstwhile Left Front government's land acquisition policies, to celebrate the apex court judgement.

TMC block president Becharam Manna, one of the key functionaries of the then committee, said, "Message of our land movement has now reached to different corners of the country. Singur has shown the way."

"We would soon call a convention with unwilling landowners, who fought from our camp. We would get their feedback. If the unwilling land owners demand industries, we would inform the leadership," he said.

Mamata, on Thursday, said in Kolkata, "Instructions have been issued to start the land survey from Friday. Everyone will get back their land. Our intention is to honour the court verdict within the time limit."

The government has also taken the onus to make the land, parts of which are now concrete for a Tata Motors factory which was supposed to come up on it, cultivable, she had said.

Photograph: Jayanta Shaw/Reuters