The East Burdwan district administration has started buying land directly from landowners to overcome acquisition hurdles that had delayed a 1km-long bridge on the Hooghly river to link Kalna in East Burdwan and Santipur town in Nadia.

The Rs 613-crore bridge was announced by chief minister Mamata Banerjee in 2018, but work could not start amid land acquisition hurdles.

“The project hit a roadblock at Hanspukur, Kuledaha, Barasat and Purba Sahapur mouza on the Kalna side after landowners expressed anger at the price of land offered by the state government,” said a source in the district administration.

The issue was largely resolved after talks with landowners, but a few litigation issues further delayed the project.

As the government is keen on rolling out the project, the East Burdwan administration recently started direct land purchase, sources said.

Of the 48 acres identified for acquisition in the four mouzas, the district administration has bought 7.63 acres by paying Rs 4.63 crore, a source said.

“Since 2013, the state government is buying land directly from farmers for development projects. The Mamata Banerjee government has always been averse to forceful land acquisition,” the source said.

“We will soon finish buying the land required for the project in Kalna. There are 133 plots in four mouzas owned by 587 individuals. Apart from them there are other landowners too. To pay for the land we have sought Rs 13.80 crore from the state government. We are hopeful that work will begin soon,” additional district magistrate (L&LR) of East Burdwan Sashi Kumar Choudhury said.

“To settle all disputes and clear payments, we are holding public hearings with landowners in Kalna. We are hopeful of sorting out all disputes by the end of September to pave the way for the start of work,” he added.

The state finance department recently allowed money to buy land for projects, which had been restricted since April as a part of Bengal’s austerity drive amid the pandemic.

The authorities woke up to the necessity of building a bridge after 20 persons died in a boat accident in May 2016.

The plan to construct the bridge linking East Burdwan with Nadia district was conceived as a permanent solution for people in the two districts who frequently travel between the two sides. Every day, a few thousand people avail of the services of mechanised boats to cross the river to reach Kalna and Santipur. The authorities woke up to the necessity to build the bridge after 20 people died in a boat accident in May 2016.

The proposed bridge would connect the STKK Road in Kalna with Nrisinhapur Road in Santipur that eventually leads to NH12. The national highway links Nadia to the districts of Murshidabad, Birbhum, and North Bengal as well.

“Once constructed, the bridge would ease pressure on the Gouranga Setu that remains the only road link between Nadia and East Burdwan via Nabadwip town,” said a source.