ET reported that West Bengal government has issued a notice for acquiring nearly 500 acres of agricultural land at Geonkhali near Nandigram for setting up a ship building yard and downstream units, sparking protest by villagers.

The notice, issued by the district magistrate Mr Anup Agarwal, said that a total of 493 acres would be acquired for setting up a ship building factory. The notification for the shipyard, to be built by the Bharti group in collaboration with the Appejay group, came immediately after the panchayat polls.

It may be noted that at least 150 villagers under the banner of Bhumi Raksha Committee, floated by the Congress, demonstrated today before the panchayat office protesting against the move. They also took out processions yesterday led by a local Congress leader Mr Suman Batabyal. He said that "We will never allow fertile land to be acquired by building promoters under any circumstance."