Suri/Ranchi: Scores of BJP members protested before Massanjore dam's welcome gate in Dumka on Sunday, alleging Bengal police had removed Jharkhand's logo and name from the gate put up by BJP workers on Thursday.
On Sunday, Dumka's BJP MLA and welfare minister Louise Marandi displayed never-before belligerence in the tug-of-war between the two states over the hydropower dam, purportedly telling reporters in Massanjore that any "jaundiced eyes" at the dam on Dumka soil "would be plucked out".
In the latest controversy, a dam welcome gate had said, "Welcome to Massanjore Dam, Government of West Bengal", but on Thursday, BJP workers had rubbed out "Bengal" and written "Jharkhand" over it and covered the Biswa Bangla logo with a Jharkhand one. The Jharkhand name and logo, claimed BJP workers and minister Marandi on Sunday, had been removed by Bengal police on Saturday.
Bengal police denied these allegations.
Massanjore dam, in Dumka but maintained by Bengal irrigation department, became the bone of contention between the two states after suspected BJP workers recently stopped Bengal officials midway from repainting the dam walls in blue and white, favourite colours of Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
Marandi told reporters that Bengal government's hyperactive actions to claim ownership of the dam would not be tolerated. She advised the Bengal government to maintain decorum and resolve issues through mutual talks.
Marandi said over 144 mouzas (revenue villages) Jharkhand, all in Dumka district, were displaced by this project.
"Jharkhand got nothing, Bengal reaped harvest. The descendants of most families displaced (in Dumka) by this project are beggars at Bengal's Tarapeeth temple. Water logging in the wake of this dam spread malaria and other vector-borne diseases in Jharkhand," she said. "We have repeatedly taken up these issues with the Centre. But, three days ago they (Bengal) tried to change the colours of boundary walls and buildings. Then they put up a welcome gate stating "Welcome to Massanjore Dam , West Bengal". What is this? The particular place is in Jharkhand, We would never have objected if they had written Welcome to Massanjore Dam," she said.
The minister admitted that people (read BJP workers) stopped Bengal from painting the dam wall, erased Bengal written on the gate and wrote Jharkhand. "But, the story does not end there. Yesterday (Saturday) Bengal police came to Massanjore, without informing Jharkhand police or following mandatory formalities, and tried to remove the welcome gate. Bengal police and administration removed the logo and Jharkhand from one of the gates," she alleged.
She said Bengal government's dadagiri in Massanjore dam would not be tolerated. She added, "We have written to our Prime Minister seeking his intervention regarding share of water and compensation of those who gave land for it. We have the same right to Massanjore dam as Bengal."
Her party leaders said the Bengal government must rub out the blue and white colours with which one-third of the dam wall had been painted.
Birbhum SP Kunal Aggarwal said, "It is a false complaint that police did anything with the gate. We are dealing the issue through talks between two states."
