RANIGANJ: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said that the state government is constructing nearly 29,000 flats for rehabilitating people from landslide-prone areas in the Raniganj coal belt in Paschim Bardhaman district.
Long-term mining activities and underground coal fire have left large tracts of land in the area landslide-prone, endangering localities here.
In the first phase, 9,284 families of Andal, Jamuria and Barabani blocks of the district will get residential flats and 3,584 of them were given papers for their flats on Tuesday, Banerjee said at a public meeting here.
"By February 2021, the rest of 9,284 families will get documents for their flats," she said.
The chief minister said that the Paschim Bardhaman district administration has provided jobs to 20 lakh migrant workers.
Banerjee said that 5,824 families gave land for the Andal airport project in the district.
Of them, those who parted with more than 33 decimals of land will get alternative land and those who gave less than that, will be given monetary compensation, she said.
"Today, 1,529 families are being given alternative land and 2,143 families are being handed over financial compensation," she said, adding that 2,152 families will soon be paid monetary relief.
She said that the Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport at Andal, which started commercial operation in 2015, will become as important as the NSC Bose International Airport in Kolkata in future.
A committee headed by the chief secretary is being formed for further development of the airport in joint venture, Banerjee said without elaborating.
The TMC supremo said that her party supported Tuesday's nationwide bandh called by farmers' unions demanding withdrawal of the Central agri-marketing laws.
"Generally I do not support any bandh, but we have supported this one," she said.