On Friday when MP Kapil Patil and land acquisition officer from Thane district collectorate visited Shahpur village they were greeted by farmers with a cheque of Rs167. This cheque was given to farmers in return of the land acquired by the state government to build Bhatsa dam more than 50 years back.
Though Mumbai Nagpur super communication highway is a dream that the current government would like to realise as soon as possible, the land acquisition for the same looks like a distant possibility. As a major chunk of this highway passes through Shahpur, the villagers are up in arms with the government to give away their land. They are mistrustful of the government and do not want to be cheated time and again in the name of progress and development.
On Friday when MP Kapil Patil and land acquisition officer from Thane district collectorate visited Shahpur village they were greeted by farmers with a cheque of Rs167. This cheque was given to farmers in return of the land acquired by the state government to build Bhatsa dam more than 50 years back.
"Even after 50 years some of the farmers who lost 100 percent of their land in favor of the dam are still fighting to get their compensation and the jobs promised to them," says Baban Harane, co-ordinator of Mumbai Nagpur Super Corridor mega city virodhi sangharsh samiti which has all the farmers as members.
The Rs30,000 crore super communication highway which will be 80 to 85km in land passes through Shahpur. The 60km stretch of the highway goes through Shahpur and as such over 1,000 farmers are likely to lose their land for this proposed development.
"Our land is fertile and yields crops throughout the year. The government has given us two options, either we will be given 25 percent of our land acquired as NA (non agricultural) plot elsewhere or it will take away our land under the land acquisition act 2013," Harane added.
However, the glitch is that if the land is acquired under the act, the government will pay us the amount after 10 years. "We are getting nothing in hand now and how will we survive till we get our compensation? And when Bhatsa project affected people have not got their compensation even after 50 years, how can we be sure that we won't meet the same fate" Harane further said.
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