'Acquired land at Singur cannot be returned'

West Bengal CM turns down the Trinamool Congress' demand that the land of the unwilling farmers at Singur should be returned.

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Thursday turned down the Trinamool Congress' demand that the land of the unwilling farmers at Singur, acquired for the Tata Motors small car project, should be returned but said an alternative proposal was being worked out by the state government.

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Emerging from the core committee meeting of the state cabinet where both Singur and Nandigram issues figured, PWD Minister Kshiti Goswami told reporters that Bhattacharjee informed the meeting that "the land acquired for the Tata project cannot be returned. There are legal hurdles and boundary wall was also constructed."

The chief minister told the core committee that Industry Minister Nirupam Sen also informed CPI-M veteran Jyoti Basu that it was not possible to return the land acquired for the Tata project, he said.

Basu, who had a meeting with TC chief Mamata Banerjee on June 4 to find a solution to both Singur and Nandigram problems, had said her demands should be looked into by the state government. Both had then expressed confidence on reaching an amicable settlement of the issues.

She had also said if there was a political will, there was a way out.

Goswami said the core committee meeting also discussed how the homeless could be sent back to Nandigram where some disturbances still persisted.