Five hundred-odd residents of two villages in Murshidabad's Farakka on Sunday morning picketed under a privately-owned, high-tension transmission tower in Dadantola village saying they would not allow the “dangerous” project to continue without their consent and involvement.
The power project in question is an Adani Group enterprise to supply power to Bangladesh as part of a bilateral trade agreement-from its power plant in Jharkhand’s Godda district, with a trail that will take its towers through Bengal’s Murshidabad and Malda before connecting to Bangladesh.
“Eighty-three towers have been erected already over the past two months. The completion of the 84th and 85th tower, carrying 11,000V each, was stalled on Sunday in Dadantola village,” said a source.
Residents of villages Dadantola and nearby Imamnagar listed several complaints to police on Sunday, the chief one being safety hazards posed by the high-tension towers.
Farakka alone will reportedly have at least four of these towers, the first one erected in Tildanga.
“Not only do these towers limit vertical construction for us, they also pose a hazardous atmosphere for lychee cultivation in the area, a vital trade for us,” said a protester.
Police heeded to villagers on Sunday and halted workmen, saying further progress would be made only after deliberations with the company concerned and district officials.
A police team led by inspector-in-charge Debabrata Chakraborty responded to the adverse developments and cleared the site pending further approvals.
Protesters, including many women, interact with police personnel at Dadantola village in Murshidabad on Sunday Samim Aktar
Sources clarified that the Adani group had acquired the roughly 4 cottah plots required for each tower from individual landowners at market rate.
Police sources, in this light, ruled out any Nandigram-Singur situation.
District officials said on Sunday afternoon that the protest had been the result of “lack of communication” with local residents.
“There have been no less than three meetings since April between district officials and corporates, but it is true that we did not keep the public well-informed enough. This will change,” said the joint BDO of Farakka, Sanjib Kumar Pramanik.
Still, protesters are not convinced.
“My brothers and I worked all our lives to build our family a home, which now stands at a single storey, but of course will grow with the passage of time,” said local resident and mango farmer Asgar Sheikh of Dadantola. “Nothing they say will make me allow a high tension line to pass over my property as long as I am around.”
The Telegraph has sent a mail to the Adani Group for their response on this issue. Their reply is awaited.