The ensuing legal battle between home grown manufacturer, Tata Motors and the government of West Bengal regarding the Singur Nano plant problem moved to a different section, as the government is moving towards the return of land in the disputed plot even though it is still fighting the case in the high court of Calcutta.
According to a recent report, the Nano plant was taken over, literally, by the government of West Bengal on Thursday. An inventory of articles in the abandoned plant was also performed. Partha Chatterjee, the Industries Minister, said that they are in the process of returning the plot. They want to wait and watch the results of the court. They will wait for a while. He also added that more details would be revealed after the assembly tomorrow. He cannot speak more on the matter, as it would be sub judice.
Following the gazette notification for the 2011 Singur Land Rehabilitation & Development Act, the sentiment of the ministry was echoed in the promptness of the administration to get the formalities in place. The department of law is framing the rules, even as the Indian auto manufacturer, Tata Motors confronted the Act before the high court.
Following the control of facility in Singur late Tuesday, the administration of the district began the inventory on Thursday. From morning onwards, no civilian was spotted in the area, with around 591 policemen taking control of it. The villagers who were seen celebrating and the hordes of crowd that stole, among other materials, iron rods from the complex on Wednesday, were not seen around the plot.
Around forty staff associates of the BDO Singur office, the Chinsurah and Singur DLO or District Land Acquisition, walked in as the police officials vacated the 6 rooms within the plant complex. These rooms were used as engine shops, paint shops and welding shops, when the plant was functioning. The officials, along with the policemen, will now be staying in the premises. Tanmoy Roy Chowdhury, the Hooghly SP, said that they have about 600 police posted in the plant premises.
According to reports, machinery parts along with chassis for Nano cars are laying strewn around the facility. The district magistrate of Hooghly, Sripriya Ragarajan, oversaw the inventory work, staying on until the cataloging had been all done. The administration is reportedly not taking any chances, especially after the advocate for the auto manufacturer, Samaraditya Pal had alleged about loot and pilferage at their project site, showcasing video recordings from many news channels. It was following this that the Justice Soumitra Pal, asked the DM of Hooghly to provide ground report by Friday.
