Equipment loaded on a truck to be carried out of Singur and (below) security personnel in an empty ancillary unit. Pictures by Imran Ahmed Siddiqui

Singur, Oct. 6: Ram Singh drove from Pune with a transformer to the Nano plant last Monday. Today, he was ready for the five-day journey back, with the consignment.

“Ajeeb baat hai. Jo saman lekar aaye the, wohi wapas lekar ja rahen hai, (It’s really strange. I will have to take back the stuff),” said the 50-year-old as he rustled up a meal under the shade of his 16-wheeler truck.

The Rajasthan native had watched the transformer meant for Tata Motors’ captive plant being unloaded and then, with disbelief, being put back on the carrier.

Only a gatepass (official clearance to shift items and move) is needed for him to get behind the wheel and ferry the transformer back to the Tata Motors plant in Pune. “I am waiting for the gate pass to leave,” he added.

Since Friday, when Ratan Tata announced the pullout, Singh has had to cope with changes. One of them is food. The plant’s canteen and the stalls outside have closed, forcing him to cook for himself and helper Mohan.

Singh realises the orders to ferry the transformer back come after the end of the road for the country’s most-awaited car in Bengal. “This factory is being closed even before producing a single Rs 1-lakh car,” he smirked.

The transformer is only the beginning. Gradually, all tools and machinery installed in the plant over the past two years will be dismantled and hauled out of Singur.

“Once the company decides on the location of their new plant for the Nano, the dismantling process will start in full swing,” said a senior Hooghly police officer.

A visit inside the plant showed the clock was ticking away. Packing was complete at Sarada Motors, an ancillary unit that was to manufacture silencers. Other units will resume the dismantling after Puja vacation.

“The same people who fitted the machinery are now busy dismantling them,” said a security guard posted at gate No. 5. He was among the few to be spotted in the once-bustling plant where over 3,500 worked in three shifts.

In one corner of the compound are makeshift wood-and-asbestos structures, once home to more than 2,500 workers. “We were waiting for our contractor to clear our salaries… but he hasn’t been coming. We have decided to go back to our Ketugram village in Burdwan for Puja,” said plumber Subir Das, who, along with colleagues Somnath Das and Somnath Sarkar, were the last to leave.

Sources in Singur said only 20 to 25 Tata Motors employees went inside the plant today for the dismantling job. Huge machines and equipment lay around the engine shop, press shop, welding shop and paint shop — the four key workshops where the Nano was to take shape.

“Less than 5 per cent of the dismantling has been completed. The process will take eight months to a year,” said a source.

After the dismantling, the road to the new Nano destination might not be smooth. A glimpse of the troubles came through today, when members of the syndicates that supplied building materials parked five trucks near gate No. 5 to prevent the machines from being carried away.

“We don’t want the Tatas to leave… we will do everything to prevent them from going,” said Shakti Mukherjee, secretary of Royal Syndicate.