LF team visits Dankuni wetland

DANKUNI (HOOGHLY): A few days after a Trinamool Congress delegation led by Partha Chatterjee went to Rajarhat to protest against the filling up of waterbodies, an eight-member Left Front team, led by Arambagh MLA Benoy Dutta, reached Dankuni in Hooghly on Tuesday to checkmate Mamata Banerjee with the dedicated freight corridor (DFC) project. The railway minister inaugurated the project on November 16.Around the same time she launched her Rajarhat land agitation programme.
Benoy Dutta alleged that though the 210 acres in question belongs to the Government of India, 39 acres is recorded as beel (wetland) in land records. "The entire land is waterbody. The railways authorities did not seek permission from the respective state departments such as fisheries and environment before taking up the project. I would raise this point in the assembly. Can a government body do such a thing?" wondered Dutta.
Hooghly DM Sreepriya Rangarajan said: "I have received a report from the land and land reforms department. I will be able to talk about the issue in a day or two."
The Hooghly Trinamool Congress, however, has put up a brave front and is not ready to give CPM a go by. "CPM leaders are scared about the success of the project. That is why they are desperate to stall it by any means. We will hold a rally there tomorrow," said Trinamool leader Dilip Yadav.
Chances are that the Trinamool will mobilise its supporters and prevent the CPM and even government officials to enter the area, turning the place into yet another battlefield after Singur.
The railway minister has sanctioned `190.46 crore in this year's supplementary budget for the initial 25.41-km stretch of the eastern corridor from Dankuni to Chandanpur. The freight corridor on both eastern and western ends will require 39,000 acres. The railways have provided about 40% of the land from its land bank.
The 210 acres of wetlands locally called "Dankuni railway colony" belongs to the railways. Around 166 families have encroached on this land. The CPM is trying to launch a movement over their imminent displacement as well.