The furore created by the acquisition of 140 hectares of land in Noida for the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) has put Union railway minister Mamata Banerjee on the backfoot.
The railway ministry issued a statement on Wednesday saying forceful acquisition of land will not be permitted. It also decided to review within a period of one month all the land acquisition decisions taken by the railways for ongoing and future projects.
“The policy review will facilitate the transaction or purchase or acquisition of land directly from the owner with complete transparency. All existing land acquisition cases will be examined in the light of the review,” the statement said.
Banerjee had earlier defended herself saying that the land earmarked for the EDFC had been identified by her predecessor Lalu Prasad. Later, when she was told that an agitation against a proposed Unitech project in the same area had prompted police firing resulting in six deaths, the statement was issued.
Politically, land acquisition is a hot potato for Banerjee since it was she who took on the Left Front in Bengal over the way land was acquired for industrial projects in the state.
“The news of this acquisition has been splashed in CPI(M) mouthpiece Ganashakti in Bengal. In the court of public opinion, the matter is indefensible,” said a senior Trinamool leader.
