Govt halts land acquisition for Gadchiroli airport after farmers’ protest

Gadchiroli: The Maharashtra govt late Friday put on land acquisition process for the proposed Gadchiroli airport after thousands of farmers staged a sit-down protest at the district headquarters here. Minister of State (MoS) and co-guardian minister Ashish Jaiswal held talks with a delegation of protesters for almost five hours, at the site and collector's office, before reaching a consensus that acquisition will be temporarily halted till chief minister Devendra Fadnavis takes a call.The agitation, which began on Thursday outside the district collector's office, witnessed over 6,000 farmers from across the district join a large march on Friday against acquisition of fertile agricultural land for the airport project, the proposed Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) projects in Chamorshi area, and mining activity. Farmers demanded that no fertile agricultural land in Gadchiroli taluka be acquired for the airport and sought cancellation of the ongoing MIDC land acquisition straddling 14 villages in Bhendala area and 13 villages in the Jayrampur area. They also demanded immediate measures to address the wild elephant menace.Jaiswal said, "The govt respects the sentiments of the people. It's not the govt's position to force anything on anyone. CM Devendra Fadnavis has made it clear that a balance between development and public interest will be maintained."The state govt, through a GR dated May 12, granted administrative and financial approval of Rs 104 crore for acquiring 311.81 hectares of govt, private and forest land across four villages, Shirapurchak, Guruwala, Hirapur and Rakhi, for the proposed airport. MIDC is separately pursuing acquisition of nearly 3,000 hectares across 14 villages in Chamorshi tehsil for a proposed steel plant by JSW Group and Konsari integrated steel and iron ore processing complex by Lloyds Metals.On the MIDC acquisition, Jaiswal said farmers and affected citizens would be given a 90-day extension to file objections and suggestions under the acquisition notification. MLA Dr Milind Narote, in-charge district collector Nitin Gavande and district superintendent of police M Ramesh were present during the discussions.