With Uncultivable and Cemented Lands, Farmers in Singur Regret Following TMC To Drive Tata Out

A major disgruntlement is reportedly brewing up in Singur town of Hooghly Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal.

Years after their agitation against Tata's Nano manufacturing plant led them to get back their lands, they feel betrayed today for their plots have turned non-cultivable. Adding to their woes, the town doesn't have any jobs to offer them for earning a subsistence, reports DNA India.

"What did we get out of this agitation? Nothing. We were used as cannon ammunition by political parties to serve their purposes. Neither industries came up nor the land which was returned to us in 2016 was cultivable. We are living in abject poverty," said a farmer, Ashok Maity.

The farm lands before being returned to the farmers had either been converted to concrete or was covered with debris, making them unsuitable for pursuing agriculture. To get rid of the upper layer of affected soil and making the lands cultivable again is a costly and time taking endeavour.

The protests of 2006-07 against Tata's plant were led by Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC) and it was its elevation to power against the 34-year Left rule in the state which led to the Tata scouting for another piece of land somewhere else and eventually lead the company to Gujarat.

However, the West Bengal Government returned the farm lands to their owners only after Supreme Court decreed in 2016.