Kolkata, March 19 -- The top brass of West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd (WBPDCL) held a meeting with representatives from the tribal union associated with the Deocha Pachami coal block project in Birbhum in Kolkata on Wednesday to dispel any misinformation about the project.
"Some people have been spreading misinformation about Deocha Pachami where work started last month. The meeting was held for clarifying these. Open cast mining will not take place there and underground mining will be done. There will be no eviction. Out of 326 acre land, work has started in only 12 acre.
In this 326 acre land, there is no habitation, shrine etc, neither is it forest land. 104 acres is government land and the rest is private land," said PB Salim, managing director of WBPDCL.
Agitation has started in the area alleging that the tribals in the area will be evicted for the project. Salim further informed that trees have not been felled but 185 have been transplanted in other places after being removed from there. "False information is being spread deliberately that the tribals will be evicted and tortured. There is nothing to be worried about," said Bidhan Roy, District Magistrate of Birbhum.
Mitun Chandra Tudu, acting convenor of United Forum of All Adivasi Organisation after the meeting said: "What has been said today (Wednesday) and what is being said outside are contradictory. We will return to the project area and only after surveying the site, will we understand what is happening."
Ramdas Kisku of the organisation said that they will reach out to the people living in the area and brief them about the deliberations in the meeting. "The local people will decide what is to be done," he added.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.