Prithviraj Chavan pipeline project of the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation would move ahead only if the villagers affected by it give their consent.
Chief minister (CM) Prithviraj Chavan on Sunday said the controversial pipeline project of the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation would move ahead only if the villagers affected by it give their consent.
Speaking to reporters in the city, after visiting meeting the injured in Dr Bhausaheb Sardesai rural hospital in Talegaon, he termed the police firing on agitating farmers in Maval taluka on August 9 as sad.
Three farmers were killed and several others injured, when the police opened fire at farmers protesting against the proposed closed water pipeline project.
On the Pune rural superintendent of the police, Sandeep Karnik, terming the violence as a criminal conspiracy on the part villagers, the CM said, “There was no conspiracy to resort to violence.”
Chavan assured that the state government would shortly appoint a retired high court judge for the probe. “After the probe report is submitted, we will act tough on those found guilty,” he maintained.
Black flags and anti-government slogans by activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) greeted the CM on Sunday afternoon.
Police personnel immediately whisked the protesters away and later arrested them.
According to the CM the families of the dead farmers have overcome the shock. “Two families have accepted the cash compensation given by the Congress. One family would be given the compensation later,” he said.
The CM’s convoy went to the tunnel near Baur, where Kantabai Thakar, one of the farmers, was killed in the police firing. His visit threw traffic on the expressway out of gear, with a long line of vehicles forming on either side of the road.
Two persons were seriously injured in a mishap when a tanker hit an Innova car ahead of it, throwing the car’s occupants out of the vehicle. The as yet unidentified victims suffered serious injuries and were admitted to the Aditya Birla Hospital.
The nondescript village of Yelshe was next on the CM’s itinerary, where villagers confirmed that this was the first visit of a CM to their village since Independence.
Chavan had to negotiate muddy roads to get to the house of Kantabai. After spending some time with her relatives, he left for Shivane and Sadawali villages to visit the houses of Moreshwar Sathe and Shayamrao Tupe, who were also killed in the police firing.
Shivaji Ghare, brother of Kantabai, told DNA that Chavan has promised to arrange for a government job for the next of kin. He also gave cheques of Rs1 lakh to relatives of the deceased on
behalf of the Congress party.
Chavan’s gesture did not go down well with the villagers, who accused the police of unleashing a reign of terror in the villages.
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