Seventy-five-year-old Jugal Kolay, a farmer at Singur, expected to get back his land on Wednesday. On Tuesday, he had “identified” his 1.5 bigha (0.5 acres) plot of land inside the fenced site of Tata Motors.
With a factory shed standing on his plot, he was to have got another piece of land. He felt happy because the plot that might come his way could still be tilled.
His smile, however, disappeared on Wednesday when news came that the Supreme Court had stayed return of land for the time being.
Yet, hope lingers, as he says. “I will get back the land soon. Perhaps, in another month or, maybe, in six months,” he says with hesitation. 0
Singur's farmers who lost their land may be encouraged by the “change” they see around them but there is a lot of trepidation in their minds.
Not yet ready to lose faith in their “leader”, Mr Ashok Kolay, another farmer, says: “We will get back our land — at all cost.” He ruled out an immediate agitation. His opposition to the Tatas is clear though. “Even if they win the case, we are not letting them do any project here,” he said.
Villagers of Gopalnagar Koleypara, which lies in the epicentre of the anti-land acquisition movement in Singur, are waiting for that one call from the Block Development Officer (BDO) or the land surveyors telling them their land will be returned.
On Thursday, the local administration was busy demarcating plots “to be returned”. “Some of us have been called to identify and demarcate our plots,” says Mr Amiyo Dhara, one of the anti-land acquisition agitators and a resident of Koleypara.
A few metres away from Koleypara and much nearer to the project site is Beraberi.
Ms Krishna Bug, one of the many who were jailed along with Ms Mamata Banerjee on September 25, 2006, at the start of the Singur agitation, says: “We are happy with the way the Chief Minister has been handling the land issue so far.”
But the so-called “willing farmers” are reticent and sulking. “It would have been better had the project been allowed to take shape,” says Mr Swarup Barui, whose sons had been undergoing training for employment at the plant. Return of land is no compensation for him.