Land acquired randomly for DMIC

The state has expressed discontent over the land acquisition for Dighi Industrial Area under the ambitious Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) in Raigad district.

According to officials, the amount worth Rs400 crore disbursed against land acquisition is nothing but waste of government fund. The authority has fired those concerned and asked for clarification about the random land acquisition which is of no use for the project. Opposition party NCP said that it was a nexus between officials and land brokers who forced the government to acquire land in their

custody.The proposed industrial area with development of Greenfield Port Dighi, located in Raigad district, is close to Janjira-Murud Beach along the

west coast of Maharashtra.The port is in Raigad district — around 103 km south of Mumbai. Around 25,000 hectares were supposed to be acquired under the DMIC. It has now been reduced to 6,460

hectares.According to another senior official from the industries department, 1,256.3 hectares land has been acquired for the industrial area as on August 26, 2015 by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC).

Dhananjay Munde, leader of Opposition in Upper House, claimed that the land which was acquired for the Dighi Port Industries Area is not adjacent to each other. He said, “When Dighi Port and the industry area under the DMIC project was announced, few land brokers purchased land randomly around the proposed site,” Mr Munde said.

He said it was a nexus between the government officials and the land brokers. “They forced MIDC to acquire the land that was in their custody and at the price announced by the state government,” said Mr Munde, adding that he would raise the issue in the Upper

House.Meanwhile, in a meeting held on August 26, the senior official fired the officer concerned and warned of action against other officers who were involved in random land acquisition.

The official has instructed his team to concentrate only on Ghotwal, Ratwad, Nilaj, Roha-Mangaon, Jawathe and Pahur villages for land acquisition. “Do not disburse the amount for the land which was acquired from other villages,” the official said.

He also asked the officers to instruct villagers that if they did not acquiesce, then the government could forcefully acquire land by using its special powers and they would get a lower amount than that announced by the state and also they would not be eligible for 15 per cent of the

developed plot. “We have no other option but to acquire the land to complete the project,” the official said. Meanwhile, Bhushan Gagrani, CEO of MIDC, did not respond to calls and text messages by this newspaper.