Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis junks PAP land deal in Kharghar

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday announced cancellation of the contentious Kharghar land deal. The deal pertains to the land given to Koyna dam project affected persons (PAP). The CM said that the deal would be cancelled after seeking opinion from the Law and Judiciary Department.

The Opposition has alleged a major scam in the allotment of 9.82 hectare land in Kharghar which according to leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, was sold to a builder at throwaway price. Vikhe-Patil alleged that prime land worth Rs 2000 crore in Kharghar was handed to a builder for a paltry sum of Rs 3.5 crore.

Nationalist Congress Party leader Jayant Patil raised the issue of the 'Kharghar CIDCO land' deal. However, Fadnavis clarified that the land did not belong to CIDCO but was government land, during the discussion under motion 293. "We agree that the file of the said deal did not come to Mantralaya and the CM was not aware of it. But since a judicial inquiry has been ordered, why was the deal not cancelled?" Patil asked.

Refuting all the allegations, Fadnavis on July 6, had announced a judicial probe. He had said that the said land was agricultural land and its value as per the Ready Reckoner was Rs. 5.30 crore only. Fadnavis had retaliated by informing the House that there were 200 other land deals involving 606 hectares in the same manner during the tenure of the previous government to the tune of Rs 50,000 crore. The CM said in the Assembly that the judicial inquiry would also probe these 200 deals. He informed that a request has been made to the chief justice to recommend a justice for the judicial inquiry.