WBIDC calls, cancels Tata vendors' meet

A meeting scheduled between the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) officials and vendors of Tata Motors’ Nano project at Singur for tomorrow, which was expected to break the continuing impasse, has been cancelled.

A vendor said that Tata Motors had sent a mail that a meeting with the West Bengal commerce and industry secretary was scheduled for tomorrow. However the meeting now stands cancelled, said another vendor. A Tata Motors spokesperson said that the company was not involved in the meeting.

Industry secretary, Sabyasachi Sen was not available for comment. However, WBIDC’s public relations agency said that Sen had not sent any mail to vendors. The state government has probably accepted that vendors might have to relocate to a nearby location.

The now-on, now-off approach of WBIDC has again scotched hopes of an early settlement to the Singur impasse. Trinamul Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, who was demanding the return of 400 acres acquired by the state government from unwilling farmers, had indicated that 500 acres opposite the Tata Motors factory was held by developers close to the CPI(M) and could be considered as a replacement.

The state government is looking at shifting vendors who haven’t started construction and some are willing to move to the opposite land. Of the 55 ancillary units, 30 have already started work. Tata Motors and ancillary units have spent a significant amount for filling land at the project site and after shifting, they would have to forego the expenses and invest in land filling all over again.

Meanwhile, the indefinite siege by Mamata Banerjee continued on the fourth day and affected work at the Tata Motors factory in Singur. Moreover, the 65-km Durgapur Expressway linking Dankuni and Palsit was blocked and vehicle movement was adversely affected.

Labourers assaulted

PTI: The Singur impasse saw no prospect of solution today, the fourth day of the Trinamool Congress-sponsored indefinite dharna close to the Tata Motors facility with party chief Mamata Banerjee still firm on her demand for return of 400 acres to farmers and its activists assaulting some labourers on the way to work at an ancillary unit.

Some labourers (all from Bihar) on their way to work at an ancillary unit in a trolley van-puller were assaulted by Trinamool workers laying a siege to the small car plant, the police said. A complaint of threats was also registered.

A Tata Motors spokesman said that there had been a drop in the attendance of contract labourers in the main plant. which was recorded at 15 per cent today, due to a communication bottleneck. However, staff attendance varied between 80 and 85 per cent, he said.

Alarmed at the growing queues of thousands of trucks due to a blockade at the Durgapur Expressway, the state government said in Kolkata it would not allow any police intervention but would continue to strive for reaching a solution through discussions.

“We will not seek any legal action and are still holding patience to clear the expressway of blockade,” Home Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty said when asked if the blockade had violated the National Highways Act.

Karnataka invites Tatas

PTI adds: On Wednesday, Karnataka joined several other states when it invited Tata Group to shift its small-car project from West Bengal’s Singur to the state’s Dharwad area where the firm already has a manufacturing plant. The state cabinet chaired by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, decided to invite Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata to consider shifting the project to Dharwad and expressed its willingness to provide additional land. “We are ready to allot another 50 acres of land adjacent to the 900 acres of land already given to Tata in Dharwad,” Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Shobha Karandlaje said.