Fadnavis’ Samruddhi corridor hits land acquisition hurdle
The ambitious Samruddhi corridor, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’pet project linking Mumbai with Nagpur, seems to have hit land hurdle as farmers from Thane district are aggressively opposing land acquisition for the highway. Fearing violence, the collector of Thane deployed a huge number of cops in the villages along the corridor. More than 150 farmers were detained by the police over the weekend.
The Sangharsh Samiti, the umbrella outfit under which the farmers are protesting, are blaming the government for using the Maharashtra Highways Act 1955 instead of the Land Acquisition Act 2013 to buy land from land-owners.
At stake is the proposed Mumbai-Nagpur highway, known as the Samruddhi corridor, worth Rs 46,000 crore. The corridor will pass through Bhiwandi, Kalyan and Shahapur tehsil of Thane district.
Farmers of 26 villages in Shahapur tehsil have taken lead to oppose the project fearing displacement. “We earn more than Rs 20,000 per day from our farm produce. The compensation per acre of nonirrigated land is Rs 30,000 per acre. Seasonal farm land would get Rs 45,000 per acre and horticulture land Rs 60,000 per acre. Apart from this, the government will hand over developed plots in adjoining townships to farmers whose land has been acquired. This package is not acceptable to us,” said Baban Harne, leader of Sangharsh Samiti.
“We had parted with our land for the Mumbai-Nasik highway This time we want justice,” said Kiran Nachite, a farmer leader.
“We met the chief minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray. Fadnavis has assured us that the state will not acquire our land without our consent. But from last Friday, the collector has deployed a huge posse of policemen. We fear that our land would be taken forcibly,” added Nachite.