CM Vilasrao Deshmukh asked the Maharashtra Airport Development Company to resolve the compensation and rehabilitation issue of Shivangaon villagers
Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Monday asked the Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) to resolve the compensation and rehabilitation issue of Shivangaon villagers, protesting their evacuation for the proposed Multi-Modal International Hub and Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN), within a month.
Deshmukh, who had convened a meeting of the MADC officials, the legislators of Nagpur and representatives of the protesting farmers in Mumbai, reassured the agitators that the government would not sacrifice the interests of farmers.
He asked the Ramanand Tiwari-committee, looking into the possibility of increasing the compensation amount to Shivangaon residents, to submit its report within a fortnight and take a final decision on increasing the compensation in a months time.
The chief minister assured the agitators that the project would not take off unless the compensation issue is settled.
Satisfied with the outcome of the meeting, the leader of the protesters, Baba Dawre said, “We hope the state government understands our point of view. The villagers are not against the project, but the way they are being displaced.” He added, “When Justice J N Patel’s land fetched Rs2.5 crore an acre, how can we take merely Rs80,000 an acre in compensation, we can’t even buy a small plot in that amount.”
Rallying behind the demand of protesting Shivangaon farmers, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State President, Nitin Gadkari, and all the Nagpur legislators including State Textile Minister Satish Chaturvedi told the chief minister in the hour-long meeting that the compensation being given to the farmers is not only abysmal, but is also unjust.
The farmers of the village have been carrying out protests for the last two months demanding a hike in compensation package.
Earlier this month, a farm labourer committed suicide in the village. Last month women had tonsured their head along with their male counterparts to register their protest.
The Maharashtra Airport Development Company has been appointed as the nodal agency to implement the ambitious MIHAN project, though the Centre is yet to give its
approval.
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