Sitting on a Rs 208-cr burden

Till January 2009,MKVDC has estimated that there are 9,829 farmers in the state like Pawar who have filed cases for enhancement of compensation for their land. This could lead to liabilities to the tune of Rs 208.16 crore for the MKVDC,as per their own calculation. Of this,Rs 110 crore is owed to farmers in Pune district alone. MKVDC officials say this is because Pune district has the highest number of dams in the Krishna Valley Basin.

These details emerged at a meeting held by Divisional Commissioner Dilip Band on Tuesday to discuss settlements related to land acquisition. MKVDC is the leading defaulter among all departments with regard to land acquisition cases.

“In March,we got a resolution from the state government to settle cases related to land acquisition. We have decided to hold one or two Lok Adalats in every district each quarter. The collector will monitor the settlements on a monthly basis,” Band said. “The government also wants to save money on interest. If the cases are delayed,the government will have to pay more,” he said.

For the 76-year-old Pawar,the struggle is also about farmers getting alternative land at subsidised rates as he has got. “When the Chaskaman dam was built,nine villages were submerged. Eighteen other villages saw partial submergence of land. The law says we are eligible for alternative lands for rehabilitation,” he said.

But compensation will not be easy to come by from MKVDC. “We have no money,” said a senior MKVDC official. “The government needs to make provisions in the budget for the claims,” he said. Till January 2009,the corporation had paid over Rs 108 crore,” the officer said.