A delegation from Calcutta on Thursday went to Birbhum’s Suri and sought clarification and documents from the state government through the Right to Information (RTI) Act on the law under which land was being acquired for the proposed mega Deocha-Pachami coal mine project.

The members of the delegation, who came to Suri to submit a memorandum with Birbhum district magistrate Bidhan Ray against the alleged forcible land acquisition for the coal mine project, said they were forced to seek details and documents of the operation in the wake of “too many contradictions” in the land transfer process.

“Everything, including the announcement of the resettlement and rehabilitation package and the process of taking over land from the people, looks like this is a clear case of land acquisition but the government is violating the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. The district magistrate said that the government was purchasing the land, which is very contradictory,” said Prosenjit Bose, an economist and activist based in Calcutta who was part of the four-member delegation.

Jayatu Deshmukh of Kisan Mahasabha, Sufia Khatoon of Mahila Swaraj and Mohan Chandra Mondal of Uthnau, an NGO working for tribals, were the other members of the delegation that met district magistrate Ray.

The quartet will also visit villages at the Deocha-Pachami area on Friday and interact with people.

Before meeting the district magistrate, the team members organised a protest rally in Suri town.

Bose, who has filed the RTI with the office of the district magistrate, also asked for a final report of the social impact assessment and social management plan for the proposed coal mine.

“The district magistrate told us that the social impact assessment is not finished yet and the process of taking over land is going on. All such matters, including the assessment, are a part of the land acquisition process. So, we need the documents and clarification from the government for further steps,” said Bose.

Responding to these, district magistrate Ray said: “Land acquisition is no longer valid in the case of our state and according to the state’s policy we are taking land with consent from local people. So, there is no question of acquisition and it is not the first time this policy has been adopted.”

Later on Thursday evening, Ray visited Dewanganj, an area in Deocha-Panchami, and spoke to people opposed to the coal mine.

“The people of Mudipara of Dewanganj wanted to interact with the district magistrate and so I went there to speak to them,” said Ray.