Hopes dashed,farmers to rope in Anna

Balasaheb Pingle of the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh on Friday said that ideally,they would have liked to go to New Delhi and meet Anna. “His fast in Delhi assuming a bigger dimension,we will wait for a fortnight. After that,we will meet him either at Ralegan Siddhi or any other place where he is available,” he said.

Pingle said they had met Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan during his recent visit to Maval and informed him of their grievances. “Since Ajit Pawar is his deputy and farmers have lost confidence in him,we doubt the state government would take any decision in our favour which is crucial for existence of Maval as a whole. But we still believe that the chief minister will seriously look at resolving the issue,” he said.

Pingle said they had sent letters detailing the issue to the President,the Governor and the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council chairpersons.

“We hope justice will be done. But we are leaving nothing to chance and are looking up to Anna to play a decisive role,” said Pingle,who extended full support for Anna’s campaign from Maval farmers.

The issue,said Sangh president Shankarrao Shelar,is about getting adequate and clean water. “If PCMC areas get maximum share of water,the dam will hold little water. They will release less water from the dam. Which means Maval residents will have to lift polluted water from the river,” he said. Pingle said they are increasingly worried about the health of Maval residents once the pipeline project is completed.

“It seems they want us to drink polluted water,” he said. The farmers said they had wanted to bring this to the notice of Rahul Gandhi. “We were told that he would hear us out at Talegaon hospital where we waited for him but he did not turn up,” said Pingle.

Pimpri-Chinchwad Congress president Bhausaheb Bhoir said Congress leaders from Delhi had sought information on the entire issue. “The party is keeping a tab on happenings in Maval. It has taken a serious view of the situation,” said Babu Nair,another Congress leader.

Rahul’s visit was shrouded in secrecy. Party leaders in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad and even Maval had no inkling of it. “When I heard about his visit,I immediately rushed there…But I could see him only in one village. He had already visited two villages. Nobody knew anything about his visit,” said Youth Congress leader M Tamboli. Other leaders like Eknath Tile and Dilip Dhamale shared the same opinion.