Talking to those who saw Nandigram erupt reminds you of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster %u2013 a great plan where the authorities forgot to take elementary precautions. It is so much akin to the supposedly controlled nuclear emissions, that spun out of control and gave nuclear power a crippling reputation.
The Salim SEZ at Nandigram is a gigantic project to be set up in an area approximately the size of Chandigarh city. Yet, till March 14, the only definite government announcement about the land acquisition for the project came from a poster pasted on a gram panchayat wall by agents of the project in January. But district officials FE spoke to (many have fled their posts) were vehement they had received no information about any land acquisition from the Writers Building. In the process, the SEZ concept, development of West Bengal and to some extent, land acquisition for industries has taken a beating that will take a while to heal.
Let%u2019s forget the hyperbole and look at the figures. Of the total working population in Nandigram I block %u2014 the worst affected by arson %u2014 almost 40% are agricultural labourers, according to the state%u2019s statistical handbook. In the entire East Midnapore district, this percentage is over 27%. This is inspite of the industrial township of Haldia.
Just juxtapose this with a literacy rate of over 80% and population density of over 960 against the state average of 906 and you have enough reasons why the region needs an SEZ. The district is largely dependent on one crop, rice which can be sown only once a year. The state was on the right track, except it forgot to tell the people.
The CPIM had the pulse of the people all these years but it forgot the basic rules just when it needed most.
