??|?? December 12, 2012 ?? 11:48am ??|
LOBA(BIRBHUM): Protected by provisions of article 371A of the Constitution, villagers for decades had stopped drilling for oil by ONGC in Nagaland. Chief minister Neiphu Rio is now trying to work out a compromise formula by arranging to pay royalties to village councils.
However, Loba villagers do not enjoy such constitutional protection. They want sufficient compensation from a private company that wants to buy the land and mine the coal underneath. Loba Krishi Jami Raksha Committee (KJRC) leaders cite a Lok Sabha proceeding to say that a reserve of 196 million tonnes is there in the Kagra Joydev block and their land is worth much more than the price being offered by the company.
The skyrocketing price of land in Dubrajpur subdivision, too, has left aspirations soaring for some and posed practical problems to others in the way of selling land and shifting. Realizing that the project may turn unviable, they have come up with an ingenious solution. They want to form a co-operative and do the mining themselves.
?We understand that this coal is the property of the Centre, we have no objection if the Centre acquires this land at fair prices fixed by it,? says KJRC president Felaram Mandal. Otherwise, they would want the Centre or the West Bengal government to mediate with the private company and fix a fair price for their lands. ?If neither of this is possible, we should be allowed to form a co-operative, mine the coal ourselves and sell it to DVC.?
Some villagers have already sold their lands at the prices offered by the company. ?We have sold one acre for Rs 10 lakh. We would have sold three to four acres more, but in the meantime the company closed its purchase office,? says Biswanath Bhakti, Loba landowner now settled in Dubrajpur town.
Others think the price is not enough. Land prices are increasing in Dubrajpur town since land givers in Loba have started settling there. About 50 families have already done so. ?If I sell my one bigha for Rs 3.3 lakh, where do I go?? asks marginal farmer of Babupur Bapi Ghosh, adding: ?With this amount, I can purchase only two cottahs in Dubrajpur town where land prices are soaring. Then what shall I be left with to eat??
Price of land is also rising in Loba ? situated about 3km from the highway ? in sympathy with the general price rise. Brick-kiln owner Md Mustaq Ahmed says it is Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh a bigha for land not earmarked for coal mines. Since the construction of the Panagarh ? Morgram highway, connecting North Bengal with south, prices of land in Dubrajpur area have zoomed, says Dubrajpur municipality chairman Pijush Pandey. ?Next to the highway, it is Rs 5 lakh a bigha,? he added.
Issues of job, rehabilitation of landless labourers and bargadars and legal restrictions on purchase of adivasi land have made the Loba problem intractable. ?I had gone to sell my plot, but the company did not accept it. Now if coal mines come up all around and only small adivasi plots scattered in between are left out, will cultivation be viable,? asks Sukumar Murmu.
?In neighbouring Burdwan, Eastern Coalfields has offered one job for two acres. And, that is a government job, not private company job. We are not anti-industry but the government must arrange for our rehabilitation and future provisions,? said KJRC convenor Ashis Misra. ?This land is all we have. Cultivation is not profitable, but it gives us food security. We must ensure that our future is secure before we part with it,? added Felaram.
Brick kilns is one industry coming up in Loba, there are six of them. But Mustaq Ahmed explains that the brick kilns are on private plots of farmers or on land taken on short-term, renewable lease. ?No land has been sold to brick kilns.?
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Rising-land-price-a-hurdle-to-Loba-project/articleshow/17579346.cms
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