Santanu Saraswati
Kolkata, April 29—It’s now a blame game between the rulers and the oppositions in Bengal over the ongoing power crisis. While the oppositions made it as one of their major issue to take on the Left in the ensuing battle of ballots, the chairman of the ruling Left Front government and state CPI (M) secretary, Biman Bose, blamed the opposition Trinamool Congress for this ongoing crisis of power.
“Bengal needs more electricity generation to cater to the need of the people. We were on the process of developing a new ultra mega thermal power unit in Katwa to meet the ongoing rise in demand for power. But like every time, it’s again the TMC that is putting blocks on development projects by misinforming the people. The fate of Katwa thermal power project is hanging in balance now. No body knows when the power department will get required land for this project,” Bose has said.
Land acquisition issue set to elbow out West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited (WBPDCL) proposed mega thermal power project at Katwa in Burdwan district. The issue of land acquisition has taken such a turn that the project of developing 1200-mega watt thermal power plant is on the verge of getting shelved as a greater section of landowners have raised stiff resistance against handing over their land to the generation company.
The 1200-mega watt capacity thermal power plant is proposed to come up on 1140 acres of land in Katwa, the region well known for rice production. The state government, took up this project with an investment of over Rs 9,000 crores for meeting the ongoing rise in demand for electricity, at the same time will help the state generation company earning revenue through exporting the surplus to other states like Delhi and Punjab.
Though neither the CPI (M) Burdwan district committee, nor the WBPDCL, blame any political party’s hand in resistance against handing over the land to the corporation, a highly placed official with the state power department observed that the land issue in Katwa has taken such a bitter turn that the prospect of developing this mega thermal power plant even in coming years will not be easier for the government. “Out of 900 land owners, over 535 have rejected state government’s offer for handing over their land. A larger portion of land is very fertile and produces one of the best quality rice,” the official said.
The WBPDCL has been successful in acquiring only 435 acres of land for the thermal power plant. The progress, which has stopped the department from floating global tender inviting the power equipment manufacturing companies for developing the unit. The landowners even formed a joint action committee to stop the WBPDCL from acquiring their land. The state power department minister, Mrinal Banerjee, however, said: “The resistance obviously hindered the process, but we are hopeful of making the landowners the importance of setting up such a mega thermal power plant in the district. Burdwan is already in the road map of getting foreign investments in tune of few thousands crores, especially in manufacturing and pharmaceutical sectors. This will help creating few thousands jobs for the local unemployed youths—directly and indirectly. The West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) has to cater to the need of this additional demand for electricity. Putting up resistance ultimately would discourage investment and retard the development of Burdwan.”
Meanwhile, the state board, just to make electricity available for the people round the clock, at least till the parliamentary polls end, is having talks with the Chattisgarh State Electricity Board. While CSEB will be exporting 300-mega watts to state board during peak hours while the later will be exporting to Chattisgarh in the off-peak period. The state board is presently getting 300-mega watts of electricity from the Rajasthan State Electricity Board, the contract of which will end on May 30.
EOM
santanu_saraswati@hotmail.com
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