Land for E-way won't be acquired by force, says Eknath Shinde

Mumbai: The state government on Tuesday declared in the legislative council that land for the Mumbai-Nagpur expressway i.e. SamruddhiMahamarg, will not be acquired by using force. Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) minister Eknath Shinde said, “We will acquire land only after farmers give us consent for the same.”

Congress MLC Sanjay Dutt raised the issue through a calling attention motion. He said that the state government was forcibly acquiring land from farmers despite huge resistance. "Farmer organisations throughout the e-way zone are agitating against it. But the government is not looking at their concerns,” said Dutt.

Shinde refuted charges saying, “Farmers are giving their consent. Almost 94 percent of that land mapping work is completed. Even if 392 villages fall in this zone, it means land mapping is over in 371 out of the 392 villages. The remaining will be completed in some time.” He added, “Farmers will get five times the ready reckoner rates in this case.”

Opposition members used the opportunity to level allegations at Shinde’s party Shiv Sena. NCP MLC Sunil Tatkare taunted, "Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray is opposing the project outside. However in the cabinet or legislative house, his ministers are supporting it. This is double talk on the part of the party.”

Interestingly, BJP leader and parliamentary affairs minister GirishBapat leaped to Sena’sdefence saying, “BJP and Sena are together in government as well as on this Samruddhi corridor issue. There is no difference in our stand.”

Levelling serious allegations, Congress group leader SharadRanpise said, “There are newspaper reports about IAS officers purchasing land near the Samruddhi Corridor. In that case, for whose benefit is this project being pushed?” He further said that complaints had been lodged with the revenue secretary but nothing had been done about the same.