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Protests at Singur

Special Correspondent

Kolkata: Even as Tata Motors’ “Nano” car was unveiled by Chairman, Tata Group, Ratan Tata in New Delhi, construction work was affected for sometime on Thursday at the site where the automobiles are to be manufactured at Singur in West Bengal’s Hooghly district following demonstrations close to the project area by casual workers recently disengaged as night-guards there.

The demonstrators, who formed a section of those who had been temporarily inducted by the authorities to work as night guards at around the time construction work for the car-manufacturing project had commenced in January 2007, were protesting against the decision to disengage them, a senior official of the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) told The Hindu.

Their services were no longer required as the compound walls had been constructed to replace the fencing for which the guards had been engaged to keep a vigil on.

Their re-engagement in construction and transportation work, once manufacturing starts, could however be considered if the company chose to, he said.

Managing Director, WBIDC, M.V. Rao, said construction work at the project site is progressing according to schedule and should be completed by mid-2008. “The first cars are expected to roll out of the factory in the second half of the year,” he said.

While expressing happiness over the unveiling of the car, the State’s Industries Minister, Nirupam Sen, said that “the whole world will now know that such an industry is located in our State.”

“It is a matter of pride” and the project will be beneficial to the people of West Bengal in general and Singur in particular, he said.

The Trinamool Congress leadership that has been opposing the project on grounds that a large chunk of the land for the site had been forcibly acquired from the peasants repeated its threat to stall manufacturing work till those from whom plots were acquired allegedly without their consent got back their land.

9th Auto Expo New Delhi 2008 Photo: PTI

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