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Patna,(BiharTimes): Within days of the foundation laying of 1980 MW Nabinagar Thermal Generating Company at Nabinagar in Aurangabad district, work in another mega-power plant in the same block of the district has run into rough weather. Farmers have been on warpath for about a fortnight as they alleged they got much less for their plots. |
Work in the 1000 MW plant, being set up jointly by the Indian Railways and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has come to a standstill following agitation by the farmers whose land has been acquired for the plant.
The farmers are now demanding the same price as given to the farmers whose land has been acquired for another 3x660 MW power plant coming up at Nabinagar itself. The foundation for this Rs 13,000 crore plant was laid by the chief minister Nitish Kumar on January 28 last.
While the compensation for land for the 1,980MW power project, a joint venture of National Thermal Power Corporation and Bihar State Electricity Board,
was fixed at Rs 21 lakh per acre, for the 1,000 MW project the price has been fixed at Rs 13.80 lakh per acre for multi-crop land and Rs 6.40 lakh for one-crop land.
The compensation package of Rs 21 lakh in that case too was fixed after agitation by farmers and intervention by the chief minister.
The agitating farmers of the 1000 MW plant have now put forth a six-point charters of demand for allowing the work to resume. They are: same price for the land acquired for two similar projects, government job to a member of each family whose land has been acquired, payment of Rs 40,000 per acre every year to the affected farmers under the rehabilitation policy, one-time payment for 750 days to the labourers engaged in plant construction work, payment for residential land as per the high court order and issuance of contract amounting to Rs 25 lakh to the farmers without inviting tenders for the same.
According to the president of the Visthapit Mazdoor Kisan Kalyan Samiti, Ramprasad Singh, their demands are genuine. There could not be two rates for two similar projects and that too in the same block of the district.
Reports said that the agitation is proving to be a drain on the exchequer as over Rs 1,000 crore has already been spent over the project, estimated to cost Rs 4,560 crore. The Bhartiya Rail Bijlee Company Limited (BRBCL), set up for the purpose, is incurring losses worth lakhs per day due to the agitation of the farmers.
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