Nagpur: Land acquisition by the state government for the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) again came under scanner on Wednesday in the legislature when former revenue minister Eknath Khadse alleged that these lands get released for builders after deals are brokered with them.
Legislators Atul Sawe and Narayan Kuche raised the issue of land acquisition for MIDC in Jaypur (district Aurangabad) by calling an attention motion in the assembly. In the discussion that ensued, Mr Khadse slammed the government and especially industry minister Subhash Desai, who is from the Shiv Sena.
Mr Khadse referred to the controversial Bhosari (Pune) land deal and said, “Bhosari land was under acquisition since 1968 and the compensation has still not been paid to the owners. The industry department issues the notification for acquisition and takes 40-50 years for the process. Owners can’t sell the land during this period and they don’t get compensation as well.”
The industry minister told the assembly that the Aurangabad land was hilly and not fit for industrial purposes, hence it would be released after the survey. Mr Khadse then asked why it was under acquisition for few years if it was not deemed fit for industry. He claimed that this was the usual practice of the department. “They are issuing notifications for acquisition without proper survey. They are acquiring land and not giving proper compensation for it, or they release the land to the builders after a proper ‘deal’ is struck. I suffered a lot for two years because of this practice by the department,” he alleged. He demanded an inquiry into the acquisition of the Aurangabad land.
