The Bengal government’s rehabilitation package for the Deocha-Pachami coal mine project has rekindled hope among land-losers of another project in Birbhum’s Loba that has been lying unresolved for 12 years because of protests to seek a better compensation deal.

The Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) is the implementing agency of the mega coal-mine project in Loba. The central private sector undertaking needs around 3,600 acres of land to start the project.

The groundwork for the project had almost been completed by 2009, but the pause button had to be pressed in 2012 following a violent movement by those whose land had been identified.

With the state government showing interest in the project, work resumed in 2017 and the area was again surveyed with the help of the Birbhum district administration to prepare a database on land patterns.

“The rehabilitation package announced by chief minister Mamata Banerjee for Deocha-Pachami has impressed us. We have discussed the package with villagers in Loba and they expect a similar offer from the DVC. If the state government can offer a land price three times more than the present market rate and a government job for one member of very land-loser family, why can’t the central government-run DVC do the same?” asked Joydeep Majumdar, secretary of the Loba Krishi Jami Bachao Committee.

The committee was formed in 2009 and has been fighting for the rights of the land losers.

“We have informed state government officials about accepting a package similar to the one offered to land-losers in Deocha-Pachami,” Majumdar added.

Although the DVC is yet to announce any package, people in Loba, 62km from Deocha-Pachami, are hopeful of a similar, if not better, deal.

In September 2019, the DVC and the district administration had held a meeting where officials of the central public sector undertaking had proposed a compensation of Rs 14 lakh per acre. This was resisted by villagers as they felt it was low considering they would have to give up both land and residence.

State government officials said that as per the pattern of the land, price of land in Loba was much higher than that in Pachami. They said proposal made by the DVC in 2019 was too low.

If villagers in Loba are given a deal similar to the one offered to land-losers in Deocha-Pachami, they would get around Rs 30-40 lakh per acre.

“We have heard that a meeting will be held soon to discuss the coalmine project. We will place the Deocha-Pachami package before DVC officials and demand the same for villagers here,” said Ujjwal Ghosh, a Trinamul leader in Loba.

Senior district officials said they had received several communications from stakeholders in Loba about their willingness to accept a compensation package similar to the one the state government has offered in Deocha-Pachami.

“We are receiving continuous communication from people in Loba but it is for the DVC to decide on the package,” said a senior district official in Birbhum.