PERNEM
Locals from Tulaskarwadi-Mopa staged a one-day protest on Sunday to demand the return of extra land acquired for the Mopa airport, while also insisting that they would not part with additional land for the highway leading to the airport.
The protesters also threatened to block the roads if justice is not given to them by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.
According to locals, the central government had approved the route from Sukekulan-Dhargal to the Mopa airport as a highway and said officials had visited a hilly area in Tulaskarwadi last week to acquire additional land.
Locals then sought to know how authorities could acquire land without prior notice and inquired about documents. Officials later showed them a letter issued in 2018 regarding the acquisition of land.
The angry locals refused to part with their land and instead, decided to stage a protest on Sunday. During the protest, the agitators also demanded jobs to locals.
"The government acquired our land which we would undertake mango, jackfruit and other cultivations. Three years back, these trees were cut and we still haven't got compensation,” complained Kalindi Salgaonkar, one of the farmers who lost her land for the project.
“On average, I used to annually earn Rs 1 lakh and so, I have lost Rs 3 lakh so far. And now, the State government has the audacity to come back to ask for more land? The local panchayat is also not bothered about us. If the State government wants more land, they will have to run their bulldozers over us first," Salgaonkar added.
Added another affected person, Sunita Tulaskar: "They cut 350 of my cashew trees and we still haven't received any compensation. What shall we eat if we give away the remaining land as well?"
Shyamsundar Mayekar claimed that around 27,000 sq metres of his land were acquired and 5,000 trees were cut.
"Give us the current market rate for our lands which have been acquired," he said.
Many other locals, including Pushpali Tulaskar, Sangita Tulaskar, Mayuri Tulaskar, Prashant, Nagraj Tulaskar and others vented out their frustration over non-compensation of their land.
The protesters were supported by Rashtriya Kisaan Morcha, Mopa Airport Sangharsh Samiti, Pernem Taluka Nagrik Samiti, Pernem Kul Mundkar Samiti, Shiv Sena's Women Wing President Aishwarya Salgaonkar, MGP leader Praveen Arlekar and former ZP member Tukaram Harmalkar.
