Talegaon: Villagers reap crores after land acquisition
Records show that 287 hectare of land have been acquired and total disbursement made is Rs 331 cr.
Owing to the present rate of the compensation offered — Rs 55 lakh for an acre of land, almost 80 per cent of the villagers whose land were acquired have managed to rake in the moolah.
THE ONGOING land acquisition for the industrial estate of Talegaon phase II has come as a windfall for the villagers of Navlakha Umbre, Badalwadi and Mendewadi in Maval tehsil of Pune district with three villagers becoming crorepatis almost overnight.
Owing to the present rate of the compensation offered — Rs 55 lakh for an acre of land, almost 80 per cent of the villagers whose land were acquired have managed to rake in the moolah.
Located beside the old Pune-Mumbai Highway, the land acquisition in question is being moved by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC). Touted to house the much-talked about manufacturing facility of the electronic giant Foxcon, MIDC has sought to acquire 454 hectares of land here. Post negotiation, the rate for acquisition reached as high as Rs 55 lakh for an acre of land — one of the highest in the region. The project-affected people (PAP) have the choice to accept 15 per cent developed land as part of their compensation package also.
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Records show that till now 287 hectare of land have been acquired and the total disbursement made towards the acquisition is Rs 331 crore. The total budget allocated for the acquisition is Rs 525 crore. While 60 per cent of the designated land has been acquired in Mendewadi, 70 per cent has been acquired in Navlakha Umbre with the land acquisition process facing issues in the village of Badalwadi.
As per records maintained by the office of the special land acquisition officer in-charge of the project, more than 80 per cent of the land holders had more than two acres of their land acquired. “Other than immediate payment through electronic means, the compensation amount is also tax free. Thus, those who get the compensation immediately get a lot of money,” said officers of the MIDC. The process of acquisition saw land covered on 1,343 land records in Badalwadi, 1,098 land records in Mendewadi and 104 land records in Navlakh Umbre being acquired so far. Interestingly, compensation have been paid to significantly lesser people, indicating the presence of larger land holders in the process.
While 288 villagers of Badalwadi have accepted the compensation, 373 have accepted the same in Mendewadi and eight people have accepted the compensation at Navlakha Umbre. In many cases, people had collected affidavits, authorising them to collect the compensation on their behalf. “One of the major reasons for the ease in which the acquisition was carried out was the higher compensation offered,” said senior officers of the department.
However, Datta Padwal, the sarpanch of the village, had a different take on the matter. Agreeing to the phenomenon of “overnight crorepatis” he also pointed out that many of the villagers had to part with smaller land parcels. “They have hardly got any money,” he said. Padwal also said that in many cases the land acquisition officers have stopped the payment due to bureaucratic red tape.
Most of the villagers, who have received compensation, had invested in the land, said Padwal. “We had organised functions in the village to raise awareness about investment also,” he said.
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