West Bengal: We were tricked, kept in dark about hazardous impact, say protesters about Bhangar violence
The 400/220kV sub-station that is at the eye of the storm is part of the PGCIL’s transmission line between West Bengal and Bihar, which was built at a cost of Rs 1,200 crore, while the former cost Rs 300 crore.
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The power grid sub-station at Bhangar. Express photo by Partha Paul
While Bhangar was in the news for violent protests reportedly against the setting up of a sub-station of the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL), agitators claimed that it was not the sub-station they were opposing, but a grid that is part of the project and cuts through their fields, for which most of them didn’t get “any” compensation. Moreover, they alleged that they were “tricked” through promises of electricity and kept in the dark about hazardous emissions that could have harmful effects on their children and themselves.
“First they said it will be a small power station. Then we realised it is going to be a large grid with massive towers built on our land. They said they were going to help us and provide electricity, but instead the power will go to Bihar and north-east India. No one told us that there are health impacts of this on us, our farming and livestock,” alleged Rahim Mollah, a resident.
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The 400/220kV sub-station that is at the eye of the storm is part of the PGCIL’s transmission line between West Bengal and Bihar, which was built at a cost of Rs 1,200 crore, while the former cost Rs 300 crore. Officials said PGCIL was building the transmission line with the ultimate aim of “enhancing electrical supply infrastructure” and the sub-station — with 1000MVA capacity — was “critical for supply of power in Kolkata and surrounding areas”.
Back in December 2013, the TMC-led state government, which was at the time yet to acquire land for the project, hit one of its first hurdles with farmers demanding more compensation. The government, in spite of its usual hands-off policy regarding land acquisition, was acquiring the utility and negotiating with landowners who wanted more compensation.
Protesters said that the transmission lines from Rajarhat are likely to pass over 80 villages and then enter Pakur district of Jharkhand. They also claimed that the sub-station is being set up on nearly 16 acres of “highly fertile farmland” at Khamarait. One of the main reasons behind their agitation is that the land was acquired at a very low rate from the villagers, who were paid Rs 2 to 2.5 lakh per katha in exchange, they claimed.
By October 2016, the movement gained momentum as villagers tried to prevent authorities from setting up electricity towers on their fields.
“The innocent villagers have been influenced by outsiders who have told them that high tension lines create strong electromagnetic fields that may affect their health and environment badly. Police have been asked to identify the outsiders and arrest them as early as possible”, said an official of the state administration.
It wasn’t until early 2016 that PGCIl began work on the transmission towers on the fields. According to its progress report dated March 2016, the only issues the work had been facing were limited to Jharkhand. This, protesters said, changed with the construction of the towers, allegedly done without the permission of the villagers, who questioned both PGCIL authorities and the local TMC leadership about this. “We got no answers, and that was when we realised that we had been tricked. We realised that SF6 (Sulphur Hexaflouride) and EMF (electromagnetic field) would be generated, both of which will harm us and our children,” said Kallu Sheikh, an agitator.
The PSU (public sector unit) was constructing a total of 953 km (of which 480 km passes through Bengal) of 400KV double circuit, 450 MW transmission lines to transit power between Rajarhat and Purnia in Bengal. This, officials said, would help transfer electricity from NTPC power projects at Farraka in Bengal and Kahalgoan in Bihar. According to sources, work is nearing completion on the sub-station, which is likely to be inaugurated in the next few months. “It is almost 80 percent complete. This would benefit the people here and at Rajarhat, from both North-24 Parganas and South-24 Parganas. In the last administrative meeting, the chief minister had asked the power department to set up at least 300 more sub-stations to stabilise electricity supply in the state,” said a government official.
Meanwhile, the central transmission utility, Power Grid Corp, has sought cooperation from all stakeholders for completion of the Rajarhat sub-station amid protests by some locals. “Considering the advantages of the Rajarhat 400/220kV sub-station project, Power Grid Corp solicits cooperation from all stakeholders,” it said in a statement on Wednesday, while maintaining that land for the project was acquired at “market rates to adequately compensate locals”.
The statement adds that the sub-station has been created using “modern gas insulated switchgear (GIS) technology, which requires about one-fourth of the land as compared to a conventional sub-station”.
It goes on to say that “GIS technology is safe, reliable and requires less maintenance. This technology is a proven technology with more than 5000 high voltage GIS installations worldwide already in use; including in developed countries like Japan, UK, China, Russia, USA etc. Even in India, more than 30 high voltage GIS installations are working as on date”.
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