Durgapur, Jan. 10: Residents of a CPM-dominated Bankura village have stopped work of a company exploring for methane, demanding jobs in case it strikes the gas — a move that reminds of Mamata Banerjee’s party spearheading protests against industrial projects.

At Bauripara, they have also demanded roads, tube-wells and even a temple.

The Delhi-based Great Eastern Energy Corporation Ltd has got the licence from the state government to explore and produce compressed natural gas (CNG) from coal bed methane in Burdwan, Bankura and Purulia districts.

On December 29, Great Eastern’s engineers and officials were heading to Bauripara from Asansol with their equipment in a convoy of 20 trucks and trailers when the villagers stopped them.

They wanted jobs as labourers and contractors. “The villagers said they had nothing to gain from the gas exploration if it did not fetch them jobs. They wanted jobs as labourers, contracts to engage labourers and construction of temples,” a Great Eastern official said.

The CPM chief of the local Bamuntor panchayat, Ujjal Mondal, supported the villagers. “How can we ignore them. They need jobs,” he said. The agitation comes at a time the Trinamul Congress is spearheading protests against industrial projects and reaping electoral gains.

The district CPM leadership tried to distance itself from the Bauripara protests. “We do not support such arm-twisting because we want a healthy working condition in Bengal. I have asked our local leaders to speak to the villagers,” said Bankura CPM secretary Amiya Patra.