Gram sabha bans govt employees from entering Budhgaon village for Shaktipeeth project survey
The meeting, organized by the Shaktipeeth Highway Badhit Shetkari Bachao Samiti, drew a significant turnout of farmers from the village. The land survey in the tehsil would start on Friday.
Sarpanch Vaishali Vikram Patil said, "We passed a resolution in this regard in the gram sabha. All the farmers in the village are against the Shaktipeeth project. If govt employees come for the land survey, legal action will be taken against them."
Mahesh Kharade, Sangli district president of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, said, "Why is this highway being built parallel to the Nagpur-Ratnagiri national highway? A total of 27,000 acres of land will be acquired for the project, leaving several farmers landless and destroying the eco-sensitive zone in Kolhapur district. As per the gram sabha resolution, govt employees will not be allowed entry into the village.
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Umesh Deshmukh, an activist from Shaktipeeth Highway Badhit Shetkari Bachao Samiti, said, "Forty-eight bridges will be built on the proposed highway. A 15km bridge will be built from Budhgaon to Danoli in Sangli district, which will pass via Karnala-Padmale-Sangliwadi. There is a fear that all villages, including those in Sangli, will be flooded due the bridge during heavy rain. The project is being undertaken for the benefit of contractors.
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In Sangli district, 776 hectares of land will be acquired for the Shaktipeeth Expressway project from 18 villages. Of the 776 hectares, the land survey has been completed in 152 hectares.
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