Villagers backed by Trinamul Congress activists stopped the production and transportation work of Essar Energy Group at Loudaha police station area in Durgapur in Burdwan district on Sunday. This was not the first time that the villagers had interrupted the production work. On January 28, the group’s production was stopped by the Trinamul backed-villagers at Kanksa area in the same district.
Essar Group has coal pits in Pratappur gram panchayat area in Durgapur. The company extracts methane gas from the coal belts of Raniganj and Durgapur. On Sunday, the local people stopped the production from four pits out of five in the area. They alleged that their paddy land was getting spoiled by the poisonous gas which emanates through their plant. Even the domestic animals were taking ill and dying, they added.
However, they put forth some “interesting” conditions for the resumption of production. The villagers said that the company would have buy their lands and that too directly from them. They would have to provide employment to the local people. Even the security guards should be taken from the village itself and not from any outside agency. The villagers warned that their agitation would continue till the management fulfils their demands.
It must be noted that continued agitation by the villagers has forced the management of the plant to close several of their producing units in the area. The Essar Group has invested around `3,500 crore in the coal belt and have taken 100 pits for production of methane gas. But they have been successful in producing at only 25 pits till now.