Source: Source: Internet , File pictures
KOLKATA 10 JULY : Fresh tension broke out at Deoacha in Birbhum on Thursday when a section of tribal villagers who gave their land for Deoacha Pachami Dewaganj Harisingha Coal Block protested as they were debarred from participating in the meeting held via video-conference with the chief secretary, the DM and the SP of the district.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has instructed her officials to keep all the parties in confidence to avoid any further internal feud amongst villagers.
Here is a tweet from Mamata Banerjee on this regard
In September 2019, the Union Coal Ministry signed an agreement with the West Bengal Power Development Corporation and under the Coal Block Allocation Rules 2017 made under the Mines and Minerals Development Regulations Act 1957, WBPDCL has been allocated the block located in the state, which is spread over 12.28 square kilometer with estimated reserves of 2102 million tons for generation of power.
A senior Trinamool Congress leader said that keeping an eye on the Assembly election, the chief minister has already intimated district officials and party leaders that she won’t allow any intra-party feud and all existing tensions should be resolved. If any feud exists between groups of villagers, BJP will cash in on it and attack the ruling party, trying to garner support from the disgruntled person, he added.
On Thursday, when district officials along with the chief secretary was conducting a video conference and speaking to around 100 villagers, a section of villagers of Deoanaganj in Panchami protested in front of the local police station demanding that the officials should also include them in the meeting as large portion of land belongs to them.
Sunil Soren, a member of the Adivasi forum and a protestor of Deonaganj, said: “The Trinamool Congress workers have already prepared a list of people who would participate in the meeting although they do not possess any land where the coal mine plant will come up. As a result, we were not allowed to participate in the meeting. It was a pre-planned meeting and the people who joined the meeting did not give their land. We are aware that the people who gave cut-money (illegal commission which the party workers were allegedly charging from people wishing to avail benefits from government schemes) to the TMC leaders will reap the benefits. We are protesting against this irregularity.”
Sushil Dhyangra, another member of the Adivasi forum, said: “We have sent a deputation to the district magistrate (DM) to add our names in the meeting list, but he is yet to give any reply on this regard. We have decided to strengthen our protest if our names are not being included in the list.”
Deoacha Pachami Dewaganj Harisingha Coal block
In September 2019, chief minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the project and she also sent a formal invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate the same. Miss Banerjee had declared that the government has no intention to sell coal blocks to private enterprises for better profits. She had said that the project will proceed cautiously, taking every aspect from resettlement to environment clearance, into consideration.
According to a study couducted by the district administration, there are about 395 families (40 per cent tribal) in Deoacha Pachami Dewaganj and the state government will provide resettlement to all the families who gave their land for the project. The project will require investment to the tune of Rs 12,000 crore -15,000 crore over a period of time and the state government will be required to acquire about 9,000 acres out of the total project area of 11,222.50 acres. Vested land is estimated to be about 2,000 acres.
TMC-BJP spat over vandalism of statue of Santhal rebellion leader Kanhu Murmu
With Trinamool Congress losing most of the seats in the tribal districts of West Bengal, including Purulia in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, TMC is making all efforts to regain its lost ground. The chief minister has instructed her party leaders and district officials to see that internal feud amongst villagers and intra-party feud are minimized and resolved.
Not only at Deoacha Pachami Dewaganj Harisingha coal block, the arrest of BJP leader Baidyanth Mandi few days back in connection with vandalism of a statute of Kanhu Murmu, one of the four leaders of the 1855 Santhal rebellion, has also triggered fresh verbal spat between BJP and TMC .
The vandalism took place at a village in Manbaazar area, the Assembly constituency of Sandhya Rani Tudu, who is the minister in charge of the backward class welfare department.
While TMC leadership has tweeted that BJP’s ploy is to destroy every grain of Bengal’s cultural heritage, BJP leaders said that the vandalism is a conspiracy to malign them as TMC is fast losing ground in the tribal belt.
Partha Chatterjee, general secretary of TMC said: “BJP’s culture is to destroy the cultural heritage of Bengal. They have also vandalised the bust of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar at a college in Kolkata during a poll rally by BJP leader Amit Shah in May 2019. It’s not new for them.”
Dilip Ghosh, state BJP president, said: “ BJP has risen exponentially in the tribal belt and also won Purulia, Bishnupur and Midnapore West where tribal villagers constitute a substantial number of voters of the area. As the ruling party failed to deliver their promises, BJP has risen exponentially in this region and so the attempt by TMC is a way to malign the image of our party ahead of the Assembly election. We are not worried as people are with us.”