MUMBAI/ PUNE: Farmers and public representatives staged coordinated protests across 12 districts of western Maharashtra and Marathwada on Tuesday, opposing the proposed ₹86,358 crore Nagpur-Goa Shaktipeeth Expressway project, and threatened to intensify the stir if the state government remained firm in its resolve.
The 802.592 kilometre-long greenfield expressway will run through 12 districts – Wardha, Yavatmal, Hingoli, Nanded, Parbhani, Beed, Latur, Dharashiv, Solapur, Sangli, Kolhapur and Sindhudurg. On Tuesday, affected farmers from all these districts blocked roads and highways to express their protest; some even tried to jump in the Panchganga river, but police prevented them from taking the step.
In Sangli district, many protesters gathered at Ankali Phata and blocked traffic on the Sangli-Kolhapur highway, causing major traffic disruptions. Police detained several protesters.
8,615 hectares of land is required for the project, of which 8,141 hectares will be acquired from private individuals – most of them farmers, who are opposed to the project as it will impact their livelihood. The opposition in the districts from western Maharashtra is more intense because it is here that most farmers stand to lose their horticultural land.
The Pune-Bengaluru National Highway was shut on Tuesday for around an hour-and-a-half, as farmers led by farmers’ leader Raju Shetti blocked it, raining slogans.
Shetti, who heads the Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathana, said that they have stopped all the ongoing land surveys across the 12 districts. “We have forced them to stop the land survey which is being done to start the land acquisition process. We also have threatened to damage the soil testing machine if it is brought here. The survey has been stalled now,” said Shetti, who said he will visit the Lord Vitthal temple in Pandharpur and pray “to grant wisdom to the chief minister”.
He also questioned the need for the project, pointing out that the expressway is going to run parallel through the existing Ratnagiri-Nagpur National Highway (NH166), “with a distance between two to 30 kilometres between them”.
Shetti added, “IIT-Roorkee and IIT-Hyderabad are currently studying traffic projections, toll viability, collection periods, and financial implications of the highway infrastructure. Based on their findings, a report will be presented to the public regarding the potential toll burden and the risks of this unnecessary project.”
The protest against expressway intensified after chief minister Devendra Fadnavis declared to revive the project soon after the Mahayuti won the high-stakes assembly elections with a thumping majority last year. Last Tuesday, the state government approved a kitty of ₹20,787 crore to acquire more than 7,500 hectares of land.
Lok Sabha MP Vishal Patil, a former Congressman, who won as an independent in the Lok Sabha election from Sangli, said, “Before the 2024 assembly elections, the government had claimed the project was cancelled. But now, the process has resumed without taking farmers into confidence. The government must not impose it – instead, they should conduct consultations across villages.”
“This land has been with our families for generations. The government is forcing the project without understanding ground realities,” said one protesting farmer from Sangli.
This is one of the many flagship projects of the BJP-led Mahayuti government. The expressway, which will sweep through 12 districts, will provide connectivity to key religious sites, or Shaktipeeths.