Senior officials of Essar Exploration and Production Ltd, whose employees are facing protests by locals over a land dispute in the State’s Bardhaman district, met the State’s Industries Minister Partha Chatterjee at the State Secretariat here on Tuesday.
Referring to the “minor incident” at the company’s Kaksa facility in the district on Monday, involving some employees who were prevented from discharging their duties, the officials said they have urged the State government to identify the land losers.
“There are some compensation-related issues which will be resolved shortly… There is a road leading to the project site and some plots are there on the road. The plot owners are demanding compensation,” project director Apurba Ranjan told journalists at the State Secretariat.
Asked by journalists what prompted the officials to come to the State Secretariat, he said the company updated the State government on the situation.
Mr. Ranjan denied reports stating that some of the employees of the company were held hostage by locals.
Mr. Chatterjee said the recent developments were related to the grievances of four land losers, who have not received compensation.
The State government will identify land losers, he said, adding that the officials of the company did not raise the law and order problem at the project site at the meeting.
Mr. Chatterjee said senior officials of the company had told Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee about a Rs. 5,200 crore expansion plan for West Bengal at the recently-concluded business summit “Bengal Leads 2013” organised at Haldia in the State’s Purba Medinipur district.
The company has six wells at its facility at Kaksa from where coal bed methane is extracted.
