Several farmers from seven villages in Mulshi and Maval talukas have been demanding that their land, measuring about 1,200 acres, be excluded from the catchment area of Kasarsai dam as the land, which was acquired 20 years ago for rehabilitation of dam-affected people, has been lying unused all these years.
But there’s more to their demand than what meets the eye. Though the issue of land acquisition has been pending for the last 20 years, one of the main reasons for the farmers’ move to get back their land was the increasing demand for land from industries, real estate developers and educational institutions.
Some farmers told TOI that their demand had stemmed from the fact that neighbouring farmers from Hinjewadi and Nere villages had made lots of money after striking lucrative deals with industrialists, who bought their land to set up industrial units.
“They (farmers) got anything between Rs 6 crore and Rs 7 crore per acre. Why can’t we also sell the land which belonged to us once at similar rates,” asked Vilas Jadhav, a resident of Nere-Dattawadi. “We have demanded that the land located along the right bank canal of the catchment area be excluded.”
According to Janardan Paigude, chairman of the Vande Mataram Shetkari Vikas Sanghatana, which has taken up the farmers’ cause, land rates vary from Rs 20 lakh per acre to Rs 7 crore per acre in the area today.
The 1,200 acre land was acquired by the state government from Nere, Jamb, Marunji, Chandkhed, Darumbre, Hinjewadi and Maan villages of Mulshi taluka, 20 km from Pune, for rehabilitation of farmers from Usagaon (Maval taluka), whose land was submerged following construction of the Kasarsai dam on the boundary of Maval and Mulshi talukas.
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