Finally, govt to give four acres of land to each Pavana Dam Project-affected farmer
During the meeting, it was decided that around 764 account holders will be given four acres of land, each. Of the four acres, two acres will be in the Pavana area while the remaining two acres will be outside the Pavana (civic) limits
In a relief for Pavana Dam Project-affected farmers, the government on Wednesday decided to give four acres of land to each affected farmer. A meeting was held on Wednesday between Anil Patil, minister of relief and rehabilitation; local MLA Sunil Shelke; and the dam affected farmers during which this decision was taken, officials said.
During the meeting, it was decided that around 764 account holders will be given four acres of land, each. Of the four acres, two acres will be in the Pavana area while the remaining two acres will be outside the Pavana (civic) limits. The 764 account holders will be given a total 1,839 acres of land of which, 1,528 acres will be allotted in the first phase.
Minister Patil during the meeting said that around 311 acres of land in Pavana will be kept reserved for roads, nullahs, forests and the dam. Those project-affected farmers who have documents/evidence of being affected by the project but are not on the list of beneficiaries will also be provided compensation. However, they will have to submit the documents to the district administration within eight days, the officials informed.
The Pavana Dharan Grasta Kruti Samiti (PDKS) members and farmers affected by the Pavana Dam project have been following up on this issue for the past 52 years. According to the farmers, a total 24 villages were affected by the Pavana Dam built in 1972 and a total 5,926 acres of land was acquired. Of the 5,926 acres, 3,200 acres of land was used for the dam work.
Furthermore, 1,203 account holders were affected during the dam project out of which only 340 account holders were rehabilitated in 1973. Ever since, nearly 863 account holders have been waiting for rehabilitation for over 50 years now.
Narayan Bodke, president of the PDKS said that as per the meeting held yesterday, the government will pass a general resolution about allotment of land to the dam-affected account holders. “During a meeting in May last year, the district administration had decided to allot four acres of land to every account holder. The same amount of land was given for the rehabilitation of 340 dam-affected farmers in the past. We had demanded the same and the minutes of last year’s meeting were approved by the minister,” Bodke said.
“The total number of account holders waiting for compensation was 863 but during scrutiny, the account holders who received the compensation in the past were removed from the beneficiary list. After removing duplicate names, 764 account holders will get the land,” Bodke said.
Vikram Deshmukh, tehsildar of Maval tehsil said during the meeting that the affected farmers’ main demand for land for their rehabilitation had been approved. “But we are yet to receive written orders from the state government. Once the orders are received, we will start the work,” Deshmukh said.
Shelke, who has been following up on the issue for more than four years, said that around 50 years ago, the land of the local farmers in Maval was acquired for the Pavana Dam project. The land acquisition process started in 1965 and the dam project was completed in 1972. Some of the dam affected account holders were rehabilitated. However, rehabilitation of the remaining account holders was awaited for the past several years. “I have been following up on the issues continuously for more than four years. I had also raised the issue in the assembly. Finally, the relief and rehabilitation minister has approved the demand,” said Shelke.