The self-exiled 300 poor families of Nayachar hope this time they will be included in the growth process. They are in support of chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee?s plan to set up a mega chemical hub on the 16,000 acre officially ?no man?s island?, located 3 km off Haldia dock on Hooghly river.
The Haldia industrial township did not provide these families an alternative living. They had to continue the back-breaking work of scouting for fish with hand-made nets in Hooghly and the canals of Nayachar. Most of these ?illegal? inhabitants of Nayachar believe the upcoming hub will give them a new lease of life.
Few years back, when Bhattacharjee announced that Nayachar would be developed as a golf course and ecotourism centre primarily to cater to the needs of the Japanese working in Mitshubishi?s Haldia factory, the poor of Nayachar was ecstatic. But the Japanese did not fancy the golf course plan.
The Nandigram fiasco has provided another chance to the people of Nayachar, and they don?t want to lose it this time. For the last two decades, the poor here have been earning a meagre living from fishing. They catch the sweet water fishes early in the morning, put them in aluminium cans and set out for the local Haldia market on a country boat. Braving the inhospitable terrain, weather, poisonous snakes and sometimes an unfriendly administration, it is fishing that keeps their hearths alight.
Dwijen Mondal, sitting under the thatched roof of a window-less, make-shift hut, sips tea and says, ??We earn Rs 2,500-3,000 a month. For a family of five, this is too little for survival. As a daily worker, we did not get any job even in Haldia, where industries have come up in the last two decades.?? However, he hopes they will get jobs this time. ??The party (CPI(M)) and the government will help us bring some relief in our lives,?? says Mondal.
Dhiresh Pramanick?s sun-burnt jaws harden when he hears that some environmentalists and geologists are not in favour of a chemical hub at Nayachar. ??Tell me if Haldia, located on the opposite side, can have chemical industries, why can?t we?. All this talk of erosion, soft soil and fragile physical environment is nonsense,?? says Pramanick.
Decades back, both Pramanick and Mondal came to Nayachar in search of a better living. They say once in the island, it was the CPI(M) that saved them from being evicted whenever the administration tried to displace them. Though their lives did not improve much over the years and they are still considered encroachers in the Island, many of them believe the government will do something to provide them alternative employment.
Says Sujoy Kala, a member of the Matsha Prakalpa Shramik Union, affiliated to Citu, the union has always opposed eviction unless it is for development. ??The chemical hub will provide jobs and we believe the government will take care of these people. So there is no opposition,?? he adds.
Bhattacharjee does not expect to face a second Nandigram in Nayachar. Everything now depends on environmental clearance. Nayachar belongs to the Coastal Regulation Zone and there could be some opposition from environmentalists. Anandadeb Mukherjee, an ocenographer and member of the Digha Development Authority, told the media that there was need to conduct a study on the impact of a chemical industry on the island.