Countdown to breakdown

n July 20, 2006: Notifications under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, for acquisition of a total of 997.11 acres of land, spread across five 8216;mouzas8217; in Singur, is published

n August 7, 2006: Around 5,000 villagers protest in front of Gopalnagar gram panchayat office against land acquisition in Singur

n September 25, 2006: The first lot of compensation cheques is handed out to farmers from the Singur block development office

n November 30, 2006: Section 144 is imposed in Singur for a month.

n December 4, 2006: Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee launches an indefinite fast

n December 18, 2006: The charred body of a 19-year-old Tapasi Mallik is found from the project site

n December 29, 2006: Mamata Banerjee ends her fast following personal appeals from President APJ Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

n January 17, 2007: CBI starts investigations into the murder of Tapasi Malik

n February 5, 2007: Amid heightened tension at Singur, the Hooghly district administration reimposes prohibitory orders till February 14

n February 7, 2007: Singur on the boil again as police fire teargas shells to chase away activists of Trinamool Congress-led Krishi Jami Raksha Committee

n February 15, 2007: High Court strikes down section 144 in Singur

n February 24, 2007: Calcutta HC says Singur land acquisition appears illegal

n March 13, 2007: Another suicide triggers fresh tension in Singur

n May 25, 2007: Prasanta Das, a farmer in Singur whose land was acquired for the small car project of Tata Motors, allegedly commits suicide

n June 20, 2007: The West Bengal Government announces a rehab package for those affected due to the project

n June 30, 2007: Local CPIM leaders Suhrid Dutta and Debu Mallik are arrested by the CBI in connection with the murder of Tapasi Mallik

n April, 2008: The Supreme Court declines to stay the Calcutta High Court judgment, upholding the acquisition of land in Singur by Tata Motors

n August 24, 2008: Siege of Singur by Sigur Krishijomi Rakkha Committee begins

n June 14, 2006: Beni Santosso, chairman of Salim group lands in Kolkata. Santosso is expected to discuss the feasibility of setting up an SEZ at Nandigram

n July 31, 2006: The Haldia Development Authority HDA issues a notice on land acquisition

n December 29, 2006: A public meeting is called by Lakshman Seth, chairman of HDA and CPIM MP at Nandigram bus stand to convince the locals to support land acquisition. Lakshman Seth names the 27 mouzas to be acquired in Nandigram block-I

n January 1, 2007 : Trinamool Congress members stage a demonstration at Kendamari ferry-ghat on the Nandigram side of Haldia against land acquisition

n January 2, 2007: The HDA issues a preliminary notice indicating a plan to acquire about 14,500 acres of land

n January 6, 2007: A Nandigram-based Bhumi Uchched Pratirodh Committee comes into being

n January 7, 2007: Terror strikes Nandigram. The land acquisition fracas turns into a bloody gunbattle in East Midnapore8217;s Sonachura area, leaving at least four dead

n January 9, 2007: Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee says a notification issued by the HDA without government sanction, identifying certain mouzas as sites for an SEZ and two industrial projects, used by certain forces to incite locals

n February 6, 2007: Foreign Investment Promotion Board FIPB formally clears Indonesia-based Salim Group8217;s investments in the proposed SEZ at Nandigram in East Midnapore district.

n February 10, 2007: The dead body of Sub-Inspector Sadhu Chatterjee is recovered after dredging parts of Haldia river.

n March 14, 2007: Fourteen people killed in police firing in Nandigram.

n March 15, 2007: A division bench headed by Chief Justice S S Nijjar orders a CBI probe into the incident.

n March 17, 2007: The CBI team, investigating the police firing on March 14, recovers 22 rifles and arrests 10 persons from Maa Janani brick kiln situated on the Khejuri side of Talpati canal near Bhangabhera.

n March 19, 2007: Historian Sumit Sarkar and his wife Tanika Sarkar, criticise the government8217;s actions in Nandigram. The couple returns their Rabindra Puraskars, West Bengal8217;s highest literary reward.

n March 20, 2007: The government orders a CID probe into the police firing

n April 27, 2007: Violence erupts in Nandigram once again as bombs are hurled and guns fired in Bhangabera area

n April 30, 2007: Calcutta High Court asks the government to ensure normalcy in Nandigram

n June 15, 2007: Most violent phase in Nandigram since March 14. Police take the bullets this time as land protesters storm CPIM-dominated Khejuri area

n September 3, 2007: After the bloodshed at Nandigram, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee expresses the government8217;s preference for the lonely island, Nayachar, 30 km from Haldia, to set up the much talked-about chemical hub

n November 5, 2007: At least 10 people are killed when armed CPIM supporters from Khejuri move in to regain control over eight villages in Nandigram, chasing away Trinamool Congress-led BUPC members who had wrested the villages from them months ago

n November 13, 2007: Buddhadeb makes the controversial remark about the opposition being 8220;paid back in the same coin8217; with reference to armed CPM cardre entering Nandigram

n December 4, 2007: The Bengal chief minister admits that Nandigram was 8220;an administrative and political failure8221; but for the first time publicly regrets his remark 8220;paid back in their own coin8221;

n December 26, 2007: For the first time since the controversy erupted, Buddhadeb addresses a public meeting in Nandigram.

n April 19, 2008: Fresh violence erupts in Nandigram after CPIM workers allegedly attack villagers in Gokulnagar area and gangrape a 50-year-old woman.

n June 6, 2008: Anthony Salim, CEO of Salim Group, meets Buddhadeb and Commerce and Industries Minister Nirupam Sen at Writers8217; Buildings.