Two days before the Maharashtra government is to hold a referendum in 22 villages of Raigad district to know the farmers’ stand on land acquisition for the proposed Mumbai Special Economic Zone, the area is witnessing both protests and support for the controversial project.
Meanwhile, district collector Nipun Vinayak told reporters that there is no “legal sanctity” to the referendum process that is to take place on Sunday.
He, however, made it clear that the referendum would not be a simple process. Instead, government officials will ask the farmers to explain their stand on the proposed project.
Based on these statements, he would submit the report to the state government, which will take the final call on the contentious issue.
These villages are situated in the Pen taluka of Raigad.
Ulka Mahajan of the Forum Against Globalisation, which has been campaigning against the SEZ for three years, went to Tambadkheda village, 10 km from Pen, to explain the importance of participating in the referendum to the villagers and whether they want to sell their land for industrialisation.
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Prabhakar Patil of Tambadkheda village who owns 3 acres, said: “I earn Rs 50,000-60,000 a year from paddy cultivation. Besides, we also cultivate vegetables that sustains my family for the entire year. We are farmers and don’t know any other trade. What will I do with the money Reliance is offering?”
“I am barely educated and will get the job of a peon or a driver or a security guard in the industry which will come up in the SEZ. If that is the case, I will like to be my own master instead of working for someone else,” he pointed out.
The anti-SEZ activists are also campaigning against the project by telling local people that they are going to be displaced to distant Dhulia in northern Maharashtra if they sell their land.
On the other hand, the SEZ supporters are led by DM Mhatre, president of the Nationalist Congress Party’s Pen taluka unit.
Mhatre, who is also the president of the Pen Farmers Welfare Association, explains to the media why the SEZ is important for the prosperity of farmers.
“If we don’t evolve from the agrarian society to the industrial society we will be wiped out,” he said.
Mhatre has also accused Mahajan and other activists like veteran Marxist leader N D Patil and Vaishali Patil of trying to thrust their “hidden” agenda on the gullible farmers.
He also pointed out that though he supports the SEZ, he is not in favour of selling the land to Reliance Industries at the rate the company are offering. He even advised the farmers to insist on higher rates and demanding more benefits for themselves.