‘Corruption in Mum to Nagpur Eway project’

MUMBAI: Congress legislator and former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday demanded a probe into the land transactions allegedly by bureaucrats and politicians before the notification for the Mumbai-nagpur expressway was issued.

He alleged that bureaucrats and politicians in the know of the project before it was officially announced “minted money through insider trading”. They knew the alignment of the project, bought land and later sold it to the government for five times the price, he alleged, raising the issue during the question hour in the legislative Assembly.

The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is building the project. Public works department (MSRDC) minister Eknath

Shinde admitted there were irregularities in the land acquisition and then CMO had received complaints and reports. “However, the probe conducted by the Lokayukta found nothing objectionable,” he said. The corporation is headed by Shinde who had the same responsibility during the BJP-SHIV Sena government in 2014-2019. Chavan, however, said a probe was conducted into the land deals after the notification was issued. “The probe should be conducted into the deals before the notification for the acquisition was issued. The government should also make the Lokayukta report public,” he later said. He also suspected involvement of officials from the chief minister’s office.

The 701-km expressway, a pet project of former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, was proposed to improve connectivity between Mumbai and Nagpur.