Somewhere in Paschimbanga....

In Bengal, farmers have always been plagued by the issue of land acquisition. Villagers of Tentulia in Murshidabad, about 250 km from Kolkata, however, set an example by donating 5 acres of agricultural land to build a road. The road will connect Mahalandi with Tentulia. Villagers who do not possess land are trying to help by providing labour. Tentulia village under Mahalandi in Kandi was disconnected from the mainland because there was no road. Such was the situation, that during the rainy season, students of Mahalandi High School could not go to school because of the mud. “After repeated meeting with villagers for a year, everybody realized that if they donate some land, that would be better for the future generation. We called an all-party meeting and both Congress and Trinamool supporters took an initiative for the cause,” said Abu Siddiqui, CPM panchayat member. “We have become old and we have been facing communication problems since our childhood. We used to go to Mahalandi through Santhalpara, Giakhardaha and Ghatingdanga, which is about 10 km. Now, this road would be shortened to 6 km. So, I donated about 7 shatak land,” said Alauddin Sheikh, owner of 17 bighas of land. Small landowners also extended help in building the muchawaited road. Despite having only one bigha of land, Sarifa Bewa, a widow, donated 2 shatak land for the road. Small landowners Lalbabu Sheikh, Putan Sheikh and Rokina Bibi followed suit. Abu Bakkar Siddiqui, panchayat pradhan, Mahalandi-I, said, “We have decided upon one project for the road under NREGA. The cost of the project is estimated at Rs 5.6 lakh.” Daily labourers Bulbuli Das and Matiur Rahman said, “We have no land to donate. So, we are donating labour. If poor and small farmers can donate land why we would be miserly to donate our efforts? So we joined.” Arjian Khatun, a Class-XII student of Mahalandi GC High School said, “In the rainy season we could not attend classes due to Tentulia’s location. After this road, everybody would be benefitted.”