Almost a month since it had conducted a referendum on whether farmers in 22 villages of Raigad district supported the Mumbai Special Economic Zone, the Maharashtra government is yet to finalise its report on the exercise, the first in the country.
It seems the government has asked the irrigation department to find out whether the farmers who had opposed the SEZ would receive water from the Hetavane dam.
During the referendum on September 21, the farmers were asked whether they wanted to give up their land for the SEZ, promoted by Jai Corp, a company owned by Anand Jain, a close associate of Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani.
The government decided to hold the referendum in the wake of social activists demanding withdrawal of these 22 villages from the land acquisition process as the villagers were likely to gain access to water once the work on the distribution channel of the Hetavane dam was completed.
According to amendments in the SEZ Policy of 2007, irrigated land cannot be acquired for an SEZ.
“Before we finalise our report, it is important to know if the farmers who had opposed the SEZ will benefit from the Hetavane dam,” a senior revenue department official told Business Standard.
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According to figures available from sources in the irrigation department, out of 145 thousand million cubic meter (TMC) water, only 30 TMC water is going to be available for irrigation purpose. The rest is already reserved for drinking water and industrial purpose.
This 30 TMC water is available for 52 villages that include 30 which are not part of the SEZ. Sources from the department added that 1 TMC water can irrigate 68 hectares. Around 2,990 hectares are notified for acquisition from these 22 villages where the referendum was held.
Meanwhile, the Anti-Mumbai SEZ Action Committee has threatened to intensify its agitation if the state government fails to come clean on the issue.
“We are aware of the government’s intention to subvert the popular verdict. We have already declared more than 91 per cent of those who had participated in the referendum process have said no to SEZ,” said Vaishali Patil, coordinator, Anti-Mumbai SEZ Action Committee.
“Soon, we will seek an appointment with Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and ask him to declare a report at once and come clean on this issue. However, if we do not get a positive response from him, we will be forced to intensify our agitation,” she warned.