DURGAPUR : The CPI-M has decided to be very careful about acquiring land in areas which have elected Opposition candidates in the panchayat election.

Farmers of two Katwa mouzas refused to give land for the proposed 3,000-MW super thermal power station at the home district of industry minister Mr Nirupam Sen today. A group of 12 farmers from the Srikhanda and Debkundu mouzas in Katwa went to the office of the ADM (Land Acquisition), Burdwan, and registered their protest against land acquisition by the state government. The state intends to acquire 1,033 acres of farmland in villages surrounding Srikhanda, Katwa to help set up a thermal power project by the West Bengal Power Development Corporation (WBPDCL). n SNS

Speeding up the land acquisition process for major infrastructure works in the district will be a focus area for the newly appointed Pune district collector Chandrakant Dalvi who took over from former district collector Prabhakar Deshmukh on Monday. With nearly 2,000 cases pending with 17 land acquisition officers, Dalvi plans to speed up the "disposal of the cases' in the district. "I have already told my land acquisition officers to brief me about the cases and my priority would be to speed it up,' he told the media on his first day in office.

Goa's Movement Against SEZs has expressed shock over the statement made by the Secretary of the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Board of Approval for SEZs, Mr G K Pillai, who has accused the Government of Goa of not taking any steps for the last six months, to close down the SEZs and that the Goa Government has even asked for this year's lease rent of land from some developers. In a letter written to the CM today, the convenor of GMAS Matanhy Saldanha suspected that some games are being played and that the government is not displaying its seriousness on the matter.

It is now becoming painfully obvious that apart from announcing that all SEZs were scrapped on New Year's Eve and issuing

CPM leaders from South 24-Parganas today reminded Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee the impact of the land row on the panchayat polls, two days after he assured the Salim Group of the government's commitment to implement its proposed projects. Bhattacharjee, who is in charge of the district party unit with Benoy Konar, met the leaders at the state party headquarters. State CPM secretary Biman Bose and panchayat minister Surjya Kanta Mishra also attended the meeting, part of the CPM's review of the rural poll setback.

Nationalist Congress Party expressed shock at the stand of the Center on proposed SEZs in Goa and said that it was a direct affront to the sentiments of the people of Goa and termed it as an acid test for the govt in power. In a press note, NCP Spokesman and General Secretary Surendra Furtado said that the attitude of the Under Secretary of the Union Minister for Commerce stating that the SEZ could not be revoked smacked of "money talking.'

THE Madras High Court has upheld an order dated November 3, 2006, of the Industries Department, acquiring 395.87 hectares of land in Oragadam and Sennakuppam villages in Kancheepuram district for setting up special economic zones (SEZs). In their writ petitions, M Haridoss and 15 others had challenged the acquisition proceedings on various grounds. Dismissing the petitions, Justice P Jyothimani observed that there had been compliance of service of notice and hearing of petitioners' grievances.

The state government needs Rs 430 crore for the first phase in the acquisition of zerayati land spread over 9,237 acres around Kolleru lake in Krishna and East Godavari districts. The land is situated in fifth contour of Kolleru lake that is being restored after the Supreme Court's directions.

SEZ Virodhi Manch, a non-government organisation, opposing special economic zones in the state on Tueday threatened to revive its agitation, if the state government fails to denotify the three industrial enclaves which are approved and notified by the union government. "The worst fears of the SEZ Virodhi Manch are confirmed with the central government intimating that it can not denotify the three SEZs notified for Goa. The SVM has always doubted the sincerity of the government regarding the scrapping of special economic zones in Goa,' SVM's convenor Charles Fernandes said.