Durgapur, Aug. 18: Farmers opposed to land acquisition for a power plant in Katwa have demanded a written assurance from the government that their plots would not be touched.

Around 1,500 farmers, under the umbrella of the Krishi Jomi Krishak Khetmajur Raksha Committee, today submitted a memorandum at the district magistrate’s office, a day after chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said land would be taken only after owners’ consent.

Debaprasad Chatterjee, the joint secretary of the farmers’ committee, said the villagers were puzzled because the government’s “official policy” did not match what was happening on the ground. “The chief minister yesterday said our land will not be taken if we don’t consent. But the local CPM leaders in Katwa are still campaigning for land acquisition for the power plant. We are confused.”

The government “must give a notification officially that land will not be taken from us”, he said. “If the confusion is not cleared, a Nandigram-like situation might prevail.”

The government wants to construct a 1,320MW thermal power plant in this area of Burdwan. It needs 1,033 acres.

Land was to be acquired in four gram panchayat areas. Two of them — Koshigram and Goai — are Congress-run. Their pradhans submitted the memorandum today.

The farmers’ committee here is run by the Trinamul Congress and the Congress. Katwa has a Congress MLA — Rabindranath Chatterjee.

Two public hearings were held on July 30 and August 1 for acquisition of 350 acres in the first phase. At the hearings, 204 of 250 farmers refused to give up their land. The third hearing was on August 4, but was postponed after the refusals. The new date has not been set.

Burdwan district magistrate Manish Jain said he is yet to receive the memorandum as he was in a meeting at the Writers’. “They need not worry. The government has made it clear that no land will be taken forcibly,” he said.