Calcutta HC asks NHAI to seek govt help in Singur

After the Calcutta High Court yesterday directed the National Highway Authority of India(NHAI) to ensure free movement of traffic along the Durgapur Expressway, senior NHAI officials visited Singur for a  dialogue with the Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee today.

Justice Nadera Patherya had asked the NHAI to take the help of the state government to make the highway free from obstructions. A senior official of NHAI today visited the Singur dharna site where TMC and its allies had launched an indefinite protest since Sunday. He is reportedly accompanied by the district magistrate and superintendent of police of Hooghly district and could have a dialogue with the TMC chief.

The state government said that the HC order directed NHAI to take action and it could ask for assistance from either the state or central forces. Banerjee negated allegations of obstructing the Expressway illegally. TMC has, however, constructed a temporary shade overnight to shield its supporters from the vagaries of nature.

The 65 kilometer long Expressway, which is a part of the National Highway-2, was facing acute traffic congestion since the last six days on account of the TMC-led dharna at Singur demanding return of 400 acres acquired for the Tata Motors Nano project from 'unwilling' farmers.

Besides affecting the small car plant site, where work has been stalled by the company indefinitely citing security reasons, other major plants in the region have also faced disturbances.

C K Birla-promoted Hindustan Motors(HM) had problems with raw material supply from North India that reached their factory at Uttarpara through NH-2. "Our vendors from the north are now sending components via the rail and the air route. We are also diverting the trucks en route our plant via alternate roads other than the NH-2. Goods are thereby taking more time to reach the plant.", said Moloy Chowdhury, executive vice president, HM. The company, however, maintained that its production was not affected and it had no plans of shutting down the plant.

Meanwhile, Tata Motors issued a statement saying, "There has been no improvement in the ground situation so far. Hence, the conditions are still not conducive for resuming work today. We continue to assess the situation closely."