Maximum's The Word

Their call: Committee members at the site

While the ball is in the committee's court, the government says there's no way it can meet the TMC demand for 300 acres from within the plant site. "From what they are saying, we will have to do away with the entire vendors' park area and give them an additional 10 acres from somewhere inside the compound. How is this possible," asks Sen. But Bidyut Routh, district secretary, TMC, Singur, insists that it is possible. "When the committee report comes out, we will prove that the total area of the land that can be returned from inside the project area will be at least 300 acres," he says.

But those who have willingly given up their land for the project are angry at what they call "an impossible demand". Sheikh Sorab Ali is one of them. Pointing to patches of lands between constructed factory buildings and other structures inside the project site, he says, "The TMC is insisting that they want these spaces. They say this is available. It is like saying, 'give them the house, but block the roads that lead to the house'. Isn't that ridiculous?" There is, of course, a counter view. Says a TMC activist, "It's their (the 'unwilling' farmers') business what they want to do with the land. If they want to build cow sheds there and farm cattle, who is anyone to stop them?"

And what about the Tatas? "The absence of work at the plant is pushing things back significantly even as we are trying to do everything to meet the Nano launch date," says a company official. With the plant closed indefinitely, employee morale is taking a hit. Internally, say sources in the company, the search is on for a new destination. But that's not going to solve the immediate problem. Ask D.K. Jain, chairman of Lumax, a key vendor who has completed 40 per cent of the construction in a 10-acre plot in the vendor park. "We had made our calculations till October," he says. "If Nano's production starts within that date, we may be able to square it up somehow."

Clearly, having come so far, Tata Motors—and the state government—would be keen on a quick resolution. But Mamata's latest demand has thrown a spanner in the works. It remains to be seen how she will react to the committee findings, which are due soon. For now, state minister Sen appears to have thrown up his hands. "We will have to wait and watch," he says. "The Tatas are also waiting and watching." That's the only business continuity plan at Singur.