This will be the highest compensation paid by the state government for acquiring land.
Mumbai: The state government has announced compensation of average Rs 50 lakh per acre for land acquisition for Samruddhi Super Expressway, which will connect Mumbai and Nagpur. This will be the highest compensation paid by the state government for acquiring land. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’ pet project has grabbed the headlines repeatedly, as farmers have been opposing the land acquisition process.
Nashik district collector B. Radhakrishnan on Friday announced compensation of average Rs 50 lakh per acre for land acquisition for Samrudhhi super expressway. The tribals would receive 1.5 times higher the compensation, while compensation for plantation owners would be doubled. Mr Radhakrishnan has appealed to the farmers to directly contact his office for compensation.
This decision by the state government would benefit farmers from about 50 villages. However, the sources said that despite the higher compensations, the farmers are not ready to give up their lands. Project-affected farmers from eight districts are opposing the Samriddhi Mahamarg. They have formed an action committee to oppose the project. The committee comprises of farmer representatives from all districts.
The estimated cost of the project is Rs 30,000 crore, and it is going to be called the ‘Communication Super Expressway’ as it will connect the financial capital of the country with Nagpur and will also pass through backward areas of the state like Sinnar, Jalna, Shendra, Waluj Wardha and Amravati.
The proposed expressway would be completed in three years. The state government requires around 20,000 hectares of land for the project, out of which 10,000 hectares would be for construction of the expressway and the rest for building 24 smart townships parallel to it. Out of 20,000 hectares required for building the expressway, between Bhiwandi and Nagpur around 84 per cent of the land is agricultural land, 13 per cent is fallow land and 1.92 per cent is forest land.
