By IMRAN AHMED SIDDIQUI AND UTTAM DUTTA
Singur, Aug. 31: Apart from unwilling landlosers, Mamata Banerjee’s supporters include some of Singur’s only-too-willing landlosers.
They have sold their fertile plots after land prices rose by four to five times following Tata Motors’ entry into Singur. Some other Trinamul Congress die-hards have turned land brokers, cashing in on the boom and making a killing with 20 per cent cuts on every deal.
Gokul Patra, 65, a staunch Mamata loyalist, sold his 2.5 bighas to a businessman at Rs 6 lakh a bigha four months ago.
“It was unbelievable… the plot would not have fetched me much more than Rs 2.5 lakh two years ago before the Tatas set up shop,” Patra said today, smiling contentedly at his home in Kismatjampukur village.
Patra has visited Mamata’s dharna, about 5km from his home, on four days. “She is fighting for farmers and it’s good to see the crowd before her dais,” he said.
But he conceded “I am thankful to Tata for the money I have got” before wife Rekha cut in with: “Don’t ask us anything on the issue.”
Chandrakanta Hambir, Patra’s neighbour, was a sharecropper on a plot acquired for the Nano project. This Trinamul supporter has turned land broker.
“Three years ago there were hardly any buyers of fertile land here but things have changed. Farmers who had never thought of selling their land are getting tempted by the price rise — and are benefiting from it too,” he said sitting on a chair outside his home.
If land prices have risen from Rs 1-1.5 lakh to Rs 6 lakh a bigha in Patra’s village, they have shot up to Rs 20-25 lakh a bigha adjacent to the Nano plant and along the highway. The government, while acquiring land for the Tata Motors project, had paid Rs 4 lakh per bigha of multicrop land and Rs 3 lakh a bigha for single-crop land.
Hambir said many businessmen had bought land along the highway to set up petrol pumps or manufacturing units. Some buyers apparently planned to set up dhabas.
“We get 20 per cent commission from the buyers. Many local brokers have turned rich overnight; they have built houses and bought cars,” he said, brandishing his mobile.
Hambir would not say how much he earns. “It’s enough to lead a good life,” he said. “Can’t you see I have a new colour TV?”
He, too, has been to Mamata’s dharna on two days. “But we don’t want Tata to leave.”
Patra explained why he had sold his land though it was his sole means of livelihood.
“I used to grow two rice crops a year. But we are childless, and my wife and I are growing old. We need ready cash for an emergency. Others, too, have sold their land in the past one year.”
He said he still owned 2.5 bighas and that was enough for two people.
Gopal Santra of Joymollah, in his mid-40s, accepted that he had sold his farmland and that he was a Mamata supporter, but would not give details of the deal.
Sheikh Sohrab, a broker in the same village, was not so shy. He said he and four associates had recently helped a company buy a huge tract in the area. “We split the Rs 20 lakh we received as commission.”
Sohrab said more than 50 people in the village had turned land broker in the past few months. “Joymollah is now known as the village of land brokers,” he winked.
Then he turned serious. “We want Tata to stay,” Sohrab said, declining to reveal his political loyalties. (END) Source : The Telegraph
They have sold their fertile plots after land prices rose by four to five times following Tata Motors’ entry into Singur. Some other Trinamul Congress die-hards have turned land brokers, cashing in on the boom and making a killing with 20 per cent cuts on every deal.
Gokul Patra, 65, a staunch Mamata loyalist, sold his 2.5 bighas to a businessman at Rs 6 lakh a bigha four months ago.
“It was unbelievable… the plot would not have fetched me much more than Rs 2.5 lakh two years ago before the Tatas set up shop,” Patra said today, smiling contentedly at his home in Kismatjampukur village.
Patra has visited Mamata’s dharna, about 5km from his home, on four days. “She is fighting for farmers and it’s good to see the crowd before her dais,” he said.
But he conceded “I am thankful to Tata for the money I have got” before wife Rekha cut in with: “Don’t ask us anything on the issue.”
Chandrakanta Hambir, Patra’s neighbour, was a sharecropper on a plot acquired for the Nano project. This Trinamul supporter has turned land broker.
“Three years ago there were hardly any buyers of fertile land here but things have changed. Farmers who had never thought of selling their land are getting tempted by the price rise — and are benefiting from it too,” he said sitting on a chair outside his home.
If land prices have risen from Rs 1-1.5 lakh to Rs 6 lakh a bigha in Patra’s village, they have shot up to Rs 20-25 lakh a bigha adjacent to the Nano plant and along the highway. The government, while acquiring land for the Tata Motors project, had paid Rs 4 lakh per bigha of multicrop land and Rs 3 lakh a bigha for single-crop land.
Hambir said many businessmen had bought land along the highway to set up petrol pumps or manufacturing units. Some buyers apparently planned to set up dhabas.
“We get 20 per cent commission from the buyers. Many local brokers have turned rich overnight; they have built houses and bought cars,” he said, brandishing his mobile.
Hambir would not say how much he earns. “It’s enough to lead a good life,” he said. “Can’t you see I have a new colour TV?”
He, too, has been to Mamata’s dharna on two days. “But we don’t want Tata to leave.”
Patra explained why he had sold his land though it was his sole means of livelihood.
“I used to grow two rice crops a year. But we are childless, and my wife and I are growing old. We need ready cash for an emergency. Others, too, have sold their land in the past one year.”
He said he still owned 2.5 bighas and that was enough for two people.
Gopal Santra of Joymollah, in his mid-40s, accepted that he had sold his farmland and that he was a Mamata supporter, but would not give details of the deal.
Sheikh Sohrab, a broker in the same village, was not so shy. He said he and four associates had recently helped a company buy a huge tract in the area. “We split the Rs 20 lakh we received as commission.”
Sohrab said more than 50 people in the village had turned land broker in the past few months. “Joymollah is now known as the village of land brokers,” he winked.
Then he turned serious. “We want Tata to stay,” Sohrab said, declining to reveal his political loyalties. (END) Source : The Telegraph
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