Project-affected farmers jump on Mantralaya safety mesh to press demands

The farmers were seeking fair compensation for their land taken over by the state government decades ago for the Upper Wardha irrigation project in Vidarbha region. Their sudden jump into the mesh and the subsequent raising of slogans against the government caught everyone unawares

Mumbai: Project-affected farmers from Morshi in Amaravati district on Tuesday afternoon jumped from the second floor of Mantralaya to protest against the government’s indifference to their agitation, which has been going on for the last 105 days. Their fall was broken by the protective wire mesh that has been installed at the first-floor level to prevent suicide attempts.

Project-affected farmers jump on Mantralaya safety mesh to press demands

The farmers were seeking fair compensation for their land taken over by the state government decades ago for the Upper Wardha irrigation project in Vidarbha region. Their sudden jump into the mesh and the subsequent raising of slogans against the government caught everyone unawares.

The police sprang to action within a few minutes and apprehended four people from the mesh, detained another 40 and sent them to Azad Maidan Police station. Meanwhile, another batch of policepersons detained the 40 protestors who were standing on the second floor and raising slogans.

The four people detained from the mesh are Sahebrao Vidhale, Amol Mahale, Umesh Shahane and Amol Takale. Takale, who fell to the floor as he was feeling uneasy, was taken to GT Hospital and discharged after treatment.

When news of the protest reached Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in Mantralaya, he asked his close aide and MSRDC minister Dada Bhuse to bring the protestors to his office for a discussion. After listening to their grievances, he assured them that a meeting would be held within one month with all the concerned departments to resolve their issue. “The project-affected persons have demands like extra compensation and rehabilitation in the command area,” Shinde told the media. “I have asked the administration to look into the details.”

Vinayak Kurwade (55) said that his father had surrendered his land for the dam 50 years ago but the fight for fair compensation was still on. “We have been holding protests in Amravati for three months but the local administration and government have been ignoring them,” he said. “So we decided to come to Mantralaya to wake up this government.”

Another member of the delegation Vinod Verulkar, 52, said that the government’s compensation 40 years ago was extremely meagre, in the range of ₹16,680 for 13 acres. “The fight of project-affected people has been on since then,” he said. “Today, apart from compensation and rehabilitation, we demanded one job for every affected family, and also that our colleagues who were detained by the police be released without pressing charges.”