Kolkata, Feb 14 (IANS) Farmers’ revolt seems to be brewing in two districts of West Bengal over installation of the high voltage transmission lines over the agricultural lands there.
The farmers of the villages adjacent to Mejia Thermal Power Plant of Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) at Mejia block in Bankura district have started agitation over DV’s decision to install the overhead high-tension electricity lines through the villages much of which will be over the farmland in the areas.
The contention of the villagers is that they had been complaining of the ashes from the power plant hampering the agriculture produce in the area for quite some time. Now in addition to that, they allege, the decision of the plant authorities to install overhead high-tension electricity lines over the farmland in the village, will impact the farming process further.
The residents of Karmakarpara village have already started agitations by blocking roads in the area for the last couple of days demanding that the work for installation of these high tension wires over the village should stop immediately.
Jiban Karmakar, the leader of the agitations, said that despite repeated requests to the Mejia Power Plant Authorities and the local administration, the installation work has continued. “So we have decided to go for agitation till our demands are fulfilled,” he said.
“The high-tension lines over the villages will not only impact the agriculture produce but will also be hazardous for the lives of the villagers. The plant authorities are aware of this, but they have turned a deaf ear to our objections,” she said.
The deputy chief of the local village panchayat, Nimai Manjhi said that he is aware of the grievances of the local villagers on this count and is interacting with the district authorities to find out an amicable solution.
Meanwhile, the fruit farmers in the Farakka region of Murshidabad district have been continuing a prolonged agitation against the high-tension electricity lines over the agricultural land in the region by the Adani Group-owned power plant as part of a project stretching from Jharkhand’s Godda district to Bangladesh.
The Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) and 30 fruit farmers in the Farakka region have already filed a public interest litigation at the division bench of Calcutta High Court’s Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj against this installation. The division bench has admitted the petition though rejecting the plea for a fast-track basis hearing in the matter.
According to the APDR general secretary Ranjit Sur, the police atrocities against the agitating fruit-farmers in the region have continued. “The democratic rights of the fruit-farmers to organize protest demonstrations and rallies are being denied by police. The agitating farmers are being threatened with arrests regularly,” he said.
–IANS
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