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Purandar farmers demand clarity on land acquisition for airport, boycott meetings called by district admin
Officials including Dr Kalyan Pandhare, district land acquisition coordinator; Varsha Landge, sub-divisional officer; and others were present at these meetings
Farmers from at least seven villages in Purandar taluka are demanding clarity on compensation and rehabilitation before the process to acquire their land for the proposed Purandar Airport begins. So much so that a series of meetings organised by the Pune district administration over the past four to five days to initiate a dialogue with the farmers from villages where land will be acquired for the project saw zero participation. Farmers from the villages of Khanwadi, Kumbharvalan, Vanpuri, Udachiwadi, Ekhatpur, Munjawadi and Pargaon boycotted the meetings organised by the district administration.
Officials including Dr Kalyan Pandhare, district land acquisition coordinator; Varsha Landge, sub-divisional officer; and others were present at these meetings. Invitations were sent out to the Sarpanchs, deputy Sarpanchs and other representatives of the respective villages but in most cases, no one attended.
In Khanwadi, not a single villager turned up. At Kumbharvalan, Sarpanch Manjusha Gaikwad, submitted a written statement opposing the project and left without participating in the discussion, citing pressure from the villagers as reason. Gaikwad’s written submission read: “Farmers have consistently demanded cancellation of the airport project and refused to part with their land.” Asked to elaborate, Gaikwad simply said, “Everything we had to say is mentioned in the statement.”
Meetings held across the other villages too were met with absence and silence.
Pandurang Memane, a farmer from Pargaon, said, “Our village is among the worst affected, with large stretches of farmland set to be acquired. Yet, no clear discussions have been held about the compensation. That is why we boycotted the meetings.”
Many farmers are still in the dark about how much of their land will be acquired, what will be the rate of compensation, and whether or not they will be rehabilitated.
A farmer said on condition of anonymity, “Even our irrigated land is being targeted but we don’t know what we’re being offered in return. The government hasn’t clarified anything so the villagers are left waiting and watching.”
Furthermore, farmers raised concerns over the precedent set in areas such as Navi Mumbai, Solapur and Panvel. They said they were worried their land would be acquired at lower rates and that they would not be properly rehabilitated. A district administration official on condition of anonymity said that many villagers are demanding rehabilitation as in addition to their farmlands, their homes too would be affected by the proposed airport.
Landge acknowledged that the response was poor and said, “Though meetings were scheduled in all seven villages, no one turned up. The confusion among farmers continues, and another round of talks will be necessary.”
Whereas Dr Pandhare stressed the need for local officials to engage effectively with the villagers. “The government is firm on building an airport at Purandar. It is important to change the villagers’ mindset. Local officials have a crucial role in communicating the government’s stand and addressing the villagers’ concerns,” he said.
