West Bengal to start Deocha-Panchami coal mine project on govt land

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asked the top officials on Monday to start the first phase of the Deocha-Pachami coal mine project on vacant government land and said that her government would compensate adequately to those whose land can be acquired later. Banerjee said at her administrative meeting that they are not taking anyone's private land and would process the first phase on the state government's land lying vacant. She said that if they need to take anyone's land, they don't have to worry as they will not evict anyone but provide them with a house, school and a job. The coal block in Birbhum's Mohammad Bazar is spread across 11,222 acre with estimated coal reserves of 2.2 billion tonne. An official said that 550 acres of the land belong to the government. Banerjee said that the project would benefit not only the local economy and provide jobs but also secure the supply of coal for the state for at least 100 years. Former Chief Secretary, Rajiva Sinha, held a meeting with the tribal leaders in Deocha in July last year to take the project forward, seek their cooperation, and promised them proper compensation. Banerjee emphasized how vital the coal block was to her scheme of things in her campaign during the recently concluded assembly polls. The officials told the media that Banerjee spoke on the need to get the work started as she was aware they could roll out the first phase of the coal mine on 550 acres of government land available at the project site. A primary survey has been started by the Power Development Corporation Ltd (PDCL) in a few areas of the proposed coal mine project to understand the demands of compensation of the local crowds. Image Source Also read: CIL notes 28% decline in coal allocation held via e-auction in April Also read: Coal mine auctions: Commercial tranche 2 gains traction