Along ‘highway to hell’, farmers keep a noose ready

Shivade village in Sinnar taluk of Nashik district is about a 30-minute drive from the Deolali Artillery Centre. Deolali town intermittently reverberates with the roar of gunfire as the soldiers hone their skills.

By contrast, Shivade seems a tranquil place, but beneath the semblance of order, there is deep discontent. The village of 8,000 residents, spread over 1,500 acres, is at risk of losing about 136 acres of prime agricultural land and about 60 deep wells to the Nagpur-Mumbai Super Communication Expressway.

The project involves building a 701-km expressway at an estimated cost of ₹46,000 crore. The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), is the nodal agency.

The farmers are also disturbed that in spite of a bumper harvest of onions, tomatoes, pumpkins and capsicum, they are losing money due to low market prices.

The farmers have decided to protest against this forcible land acquisition in a unique way. Near every large well, the farmers have a hangman’s noose ( phasi ka phanda ). Farmers say they are ready to hang themselves if their land is acquired.

Raosaheb Harak, 35, a farmer from the village, owns five acres of irrigated land. He also has BA and B.Ed degrees. Harak says that in 1972, the State was reeling under a severe drought, but their village did not face any hardship. In all Sinnar taluk, Shivade village has the largest number of dug wells. Deep aquifers provide water to the villagers round the year. It is nature’s gift to the village because of its unique geology and geography: the village is surrounded on three sides by the Sahyadri mountains.

The village wells supply water for drinking and cultivation; farmers have laid pipelines across the village for irrigation, which sustains the grape, onions and tomato crops. Each well provides for inhabitants on 15 hectares, and about 900 hectares will go without water if the wells are acquired for the expressway.

Dnyneshwar Chavanke, a farmer, alleged that when the villagers opposed the survey for the mega project, MSRDC officials taunted the villagers, saying that perhaps they could point to a better alignment for the road.

The MSRDC claims that the new road will help the local economy. But Chavanke points to the experience of villages along the Mumbai-Pune expressway to say that hasn’t happened in 15 years.

RL Mopalwar, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of the MSRDC, told BusinessLine that the road passes through 392 villages, in some of which fertile land will have to be acquired. The road alignment has been drawn scientifically, and if it is shifted even by 100 meters, a whole section of eight km has to be realigned, which is not possible. Some fertile land will have to be sacrificed, he said.

In villages such as Shivde, the MSRDC is facing opposition. The agency is looking to offer better compensation to the villagers. In villages that are not opposed to the project, the MSRDC will acquire the land and get on with the work..

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