KOLKATA : No amount of threat will force the West Bengal Government to change its stand and policies, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said on Tuesday night.

He was responding to Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee's threat on Monday to launch a fresh agitation if the land acquired for the Tata Motors project at Singur in Hooghly district was not returned to the original owners within 10 days. "Ms. Banerjee should clearly understand that the State Government will be not be cowed down by any threat," the Chief Minister said in a statement issued on the eve of his two-day tour of north Bengal.

Mr. Bhattacharjee asserted that the work on the project, which began on January 21, would "continue uninterrupted."

Referring to Ms. Banerjee's demand to lift the prohibitory orders in force at Singur, the Chief Minister said that "a pre-requisite for doing so could be an assurance that her [Ms. Banerjee's] party refrains from engaging in any activity which is irresponsible and has the potential to incite violence."

Protest day

The Trinamool Congress-led Krishi Jami Raksha [Save Farmland] Committee, which observed the "Singur Protest Day" on Wednesday, has lined up a series of agitations. Ms. Banerjee has announced that she would be visiting the site on February 10. She has also said that she would only consider accepting the Chief Minister's request to discuss the project if permission to Tata Motors to continue with the construction work was withdrawn.

Speaking to The Hindu from the Singur project site, the State's Director, Industries, M.V. Rao, said that the work had ``picked up momentum and there was no let-up." About 560 people, all drawn from the surrounding villages, were engaged at the site during the day. The number was expected to rise to 2,500 when work is in full swing.

Work was presently confined to "construction of the compound wall, laying of internal roads and creating other infrastructure facilities." The construction of the main factory was "only a few days away," Mr. Rao said.

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