A decade of exasperated sighs, uncertainty and anxiety turned into relief on Wednesday as the Supreme Court ruled in favour of returning 997 acres of land acquired to set up the Tata Motors factory at Singur. Glued to the television screens since morning, Singur residents exploded in joy as the apex court laid out its judgment.
Nearly all residents of the small agricultural hamlet in Hooghly, around 70 km from Kolkata, have been sitting on the edge of their seats since they got to know on Tuesday evening that the verdict was set to come a day later. By 2 pm, as news channels started flashing the verdict, Singur residents erupted into jubilation. The bursts of fire crackers reverberated throughout the area, as locals smeared each other with gulaal and forced sweets into each other’s mouth.
Summing up the verdict, Mahadab Sarkar, a leader of the Save Farmland Committee that led the movement since 2006, pointed out that the apex court instructed handover of the acquired land to farmers within 12 weeks. “The court has also ordered that those who received compensation earlier will not have to return the money. Instead, those who didn’t receive or accept money 10 years back, will be compensated. This is a very positive move,” he said.
Sarkar is among those handful of Singur residents who initially gave up his land but later withdrew the offer and decided to fight the acquisition, which they found forcible. Back in 2006, the erstwhile Left Front government, led by Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, acquired 997 acres at Singur to help Tata Motors set up its dream project, the then Rs 1 lakh Nano car.
