Land acquired for projects: Maha Govt sets up body to look into rehabilitation of over 50 lakh people

He added that guidelines were never adhered to, leaving project affected persons (PAPs) in a lurch. “As per rules, villagers should be rehabilitated within the command area and not thrown in some vacant land, where they have no access to agriculture land or basic amenities.” Bhandari, who had been working with PAPs for several years, said: “There are at least 50,000 such families seeking justice. In some cases, villagers were relocated, but amenities are lacking…”

Asked about the financial implication of the move, he added: “The constitution of the Relief and Rehabilitation Authority is a pointer to the government’s commitment to people, who have been affected by projects.” The authority has decided to focus on old projects to help displaced villagers. In the last six decades, most people have been displaced over projects of the irrigation sector, followed by power, PWD (road) and industrial sectors, Bhandari said. “All cases of PAPs relate to land acquisition for projects sanctioned before 2014. The cases range from Koyna (western Maharashtra) to Gosikhurd (Vidarbha).”

Citing the example of Koyna Dam (at Satara in western Maharashtra), Bhandari said that while the process of land acquisition began in 1956 and the project was completed in 1964, local residents are still awaiting rehabilitation. In some cases, almost an entire generation has fought for the cause and still failed to get justice, he added.

“Chandoli Sanctuary in Satara district led to the displacement of 14 villages. At least in three villages, no clear land demarcation was made. People have been left in a lurch… In the case of Wangh-Marathwadi Dam project, 46 villages were affected. The land acquisition process was completed in 1998, but still PAPs are facing problems, as they were relocated to drought-prone areas without proper civic amenities,” Bhandari said.

Asked why such a move was necessitated, he said: “I am not going to make any political comment. But it is a fact that all the PAPs awaiting justice are related to projects before 2014. The Congress-NCP have been the ruling party for six decades.”