Calcutta, Nov. 26: Told by an industrialist that “nothing is moving” after Singur, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today tried to calm business nerves by saying “things are not that bad” in Bengal.

At a Ficci meet, Mahendra K. Jalan, chairman of Keventer Agro, said: “After Singur, everybody is talking to all (political) parties, but nothing is moving. Earlier, there used to be action.”

Jalan was possibly referring to a hawkers’ encroachment near his Barasat food-processing.

The chief minister told him: “Things are not that bad. My secretary is sitting here. After the meeting, you talk to my secretary.”

Sources said the sub-divisional officer of Barasat today called up the Nilgunge panchayat and asked it to submit a survey report on the encroachments by Monday. A meeting was held last Monday with the 60 squatters and the panchayat was asked to prepare the survey report.

Bhattacharjee made a grim forecast for the tobacco industry. The “future of the cigarette industry is doomed”, he said. Turning to ITC chairman Y.C. Deveshwar, he said: “When I meet him, I tell him, the cigarette (industry) is in serious trouble. The health minister keeps writing that I should quit smoking.”

ITC has diversified into other areas and now earns over half its revenue from non-tobacco businesses but is still the leading manufacturer of cigarettes in the country.