After Thursday’s meeting, committee head Rabindranath Bhattcharya, Trinamool MLA from Singur, said: “ The committee is expected to submit an interim report to the government after seven days. We will ask for more time,” he said.

Justice Chittatosh Mookherjee, legal advisor to the West Bengal Governor in the recent talks, told The Indian Express that the crisis would become more complex if things are dragged. “The issue needs to be settled at the earliest,” he said.

But even on Thursday’s meeting — though Bhattacharya claimed both parties exchanged views cordially — sources in West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation said the dispute over the quantum of land to be returned from within the project area raged. Trinamool representatives demanded 300 acres, the government representatives said it was possible only to give 40 acres.

The impasse has been on since Monday. On Wednesday, the parties had visited the project site to identify land. But the visit proved unproductive. Justice Mookherjee said both parties will have to climb down if they wanted a solution. To make matters worse, in Singur, the farmers who have already received compensation conveyed to the government that their land cannot be allotted to other farmers. The number of such farmers is increasing, said sources in the commerce department.