By Nityanand Shukla, IANS,
Ranchi : After the ongoing land dispute over global automobiles major Tata Motors’ super-cheap Nano car project at Singur in neighbouring West Bengal, Indian industries planning big ticket investments in the east Indian state of Jharkhand are now facing the heat of land acquisition tussles.
The latest incident took place Sep 12 this year when workers of a political party Jharkhand Disom Party (JDP) roughed up employees of cement maker Jupiter Cement in Kharsawa district.
The company’s staff had gone to identify land for setting up a cement plant.
Two days earlier (Sep 10), three surveyors of Bhusan Steel and Power Company were held hostage for more than three hours and roughed up by villagers in East Singhbhum district of the state.
Women villagers of Potaka village put cow dung on the faces of the surveyors while farmers forced them to wear garlands made out of shoes.
They too had gone to conduct surveys for locating suitable land for setting up a three million tonne steel plant and a 900MW power plant with a total investment of Rs.105 billion ($2.63 billion).
In June this year, representatives of global steel giant ArcelorMittal faced a tough time in Torpa block of Khuti district in the state. They had gone for land survey and the villagers prevented them from visiting the site.
ArcelorMittal plans to set up a 12 million tonne steel unit at an investment of Rs.400 billion ($10 billion).
Again in July, 2007, workers of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the party to which the state’s chief minister Shibu Soren belongs, had attacked Kohinoor Steel facilities in Seraikela and Kharsawa districts and caused losses of Rs.300 million to the company.
They too were agitating against land acquisition.
As a consequence of rising protests, many steel companies have relocated their project sites. But land acquisition still remains a major bottleneck despite relocation.
The ArcellorMittal site is situated near a proposed 700 MW hydel power plant in Torpa block of Khuti district.
Another hydel power plant, the Koel Karo project has not been able to start generating power even after three decades since its foundation stone was laid due to protests by the local people who are being supported by some non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
The Jharkhand state government has signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with more than 80 companies in steel, mining and power sectors.
The major steel players are ArcellorMittal, Tata Steel, and Jindal Steel, among others.
To translate the MoUs into reality, the state needs to acquire more than 200,000 acres of land.
Most of the major steel companies who have signed MoUs have already been allotted iron ore mines and coal blocks. But land is emerging as a major hindrance to setting up these proposed industries.
“One after another, incidents are taking place in the state and no action is being taken against those people who are roughing up company representatives,” said Manoj Naredi, president of the industry lobby Federation of Jharkhand Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
“This is not a good sign for the development of the state,” he added.
Interestingly, most of these agitations are getting the support of political parties in the state.
In the Bushan Steel surveyors incident, the role of local workers of the ruling JMM has come under the scanner.
Reacting to the issue, chief minister Soren said: “The state government is making all efforts for the development of industries. But poor people should not be overlooked while setting them up”.