Wonder if some forces are working to destabilise Maharashtra: Minister amid Shaktipeeth stir

Mumbai, Aug 15 (PTI) Maharashtra minister Chandrakant Patil on Friday wondered if some forces are working to destabilise the state or spread anarchy by creating unrest over any issue.

Whenever something happens in the state, attempts are made to destabilise the government and create anarchy, the minister for higher and technical education said.

"One wonders whether there are forces deliberately working to spread such chaos," Patil, the guardian minister of Sangli, told reporters there after taking part in an Independence Day event.

Responding to a query about opposition to the proposed Shaktipeeth Expressway, Patil said, without the Koyna dam, Maharashtra would not have had the same level of power generation or irrigation.

"If the Samruddhi Expressway had not been built, could farm produce have reached Mumbai from Nagpur in eight hours," he asked.

Patil, however, acknowledged that some of the Koyna dam project-affected persons were still awaiting compensation even after 40 years.

"The process is going on. Farmers affected by the Shaktipeeth highway must receive proper compensation and rehabilitation. The Shaktipeeth highway will connect various pilgrimage sites. Farmers should stop opposing it and instead focus on ensuring they get the best possible compensation," Patil said.

According to the state government, the project that passes through 12 districts will require 8,024 hectares of land from 371 villages, including 7,625 hectares of private farmland, 262 hectares of government land and 123 hectares of forest land.

Measurement work is under way in all districts, officials said.

The process is nearing completion in Wardha, Yavatmal and Sindhudurg, progressing satisfactorily in Solapur, moving slowly in Nanded, Hingoli, Parbhani, Beed and Dharashiv, and facing stiff resistance in Latur, Sangli and particularly Kolhapur, they added.

The state is yet to announce the compensation formula.

In Kolhapur, farmers staged a symbolic agitation with the slogan "Tiranga in our fields, no Shaktipeeth in our farmlands" during the day.

Congress leader in the Legislative Council Satej Patil led demonstrations in Bhudargad and Kagal talukas, while Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana chief and former MP Raju Shetti spearheaded protests in Hatkanangale and Shirol talukas.

Farmers raised slogans asserting their rights over their land and demanded the cancellation of the project.

They claimed it would swallow some of the most fertile farmland in Kolhapur, where most cultivators are small landholders. PTI ND BNM