Land acquisition laws not followed: NCP chief Pawar

Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday raised doubts about the process of implementing the ambitious project of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Mahamarg. Mr Pawar said he has received complaints of irregularities in the land acquisition and survey carried out by the government for the project. The NCP has convened a conference on June 12 of project-affected people at Aurangabad to hear their grievances and take a stand about the project.

“I was told by the farmers and the project-affected people that laws like land acquisition are not being followed. I have visited Nashik, Nagpur and Jalgaon so far. I even spoke to government officials who could not give me satisfactory answers about the project. We do not believe in opposing the project just for the sake of opposition. But the project-affected people’s grievances should be heard,” Mr Pawar told reporters. The NCP chief held a meeting of some project-affected people at the NCP office on Tuesday.  

Mr Pawar’s reaction came in the backdrop of protests carried out by farmers over giving land for the project in various parts of the state.

The NCP chief also expressed surprise over the cost of the project, which is around Rs 46,000 crore. “I used to think that the state government has no money to spend for welfare. But the cost of the Samruddhi Mahamarg is too high,” he added. Mr Pawar also said some government officials have taken lands near the Samruddhi Mahamarg.