Kolkata: Members of the Santhal tribe in Muhammad Bazar, West Bengal’s Birbhum district, called off their agitation on Sunday after the state government assured them that their villages would not be evacuated for Deocha Pachami coal block project, the world’s second-largest, as it will be an underground mining operation.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced at the Bengal Global Business Summit on February 6 that initial work at the country’s biggest coal mine would start immediately.
“An agitation started after that announcement because a section of the local media reported that tribal people would be evicted and some forest areas cleared. The government assured us at a meeting on Saturday that there would be no eviction since it will be an underground mine,” Sukhchand Soren, one of the leaders of the tribal group Bharat Jakat Majhi Pargana Mahal said.
Saturday’s meeting in Kolkata was addressed by West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited chairman PB Salim and Birbhum district magistrate Bidhan Roy.
In a parallel development, Anubrata Mondal, chairman of the West Bengal State Rural Development Agency and president of the Trinamool Congress unit in Birbhum, formed a 31-member government committee at the Muhammad Bazar community block to solve problems at the ground level.
After meeting the Bharat Jakat Majhi Pargana Mahal members, Salim said: “Some people have spread a rumour that the government will take over 14,000 acres. We told the tribal people that the state requires only 3,400 acres since it is not an open cast mine. No eviction or deforestation is required for an underground project.”
{{/usCountry}}After meeting the Bharat Jakat Majhi Pargana Mahal members, Salim said: “Some people have spread a rumour that the government will take over 14,000 acres. We told the tribal people that the state requires only 3,400 acres since it is not an open cast mine. No eviction or deforestation is required for an underground project.”
{{/usCountry}}“The state will have to buy some land. But it will be bought only from those willing to give their consent in writing. No land will be taken from villagers who refuse,” Salim told the media.
A power point presentation was used to explain the technical details of the project to the tribal leaders. The government said the National Institute of Rock Mechanics under the Union ministry of mines will carry out the drilling.
Soren said, “A clarification from the government was necessary. Meetings like this should be held at regular intervals for a project of this scale.”