Pune: Pawana Direct Pipeline Project To Move Ahead Only After Talks With Maval Farmers, Says CM Devendra Fadnavis
· Free Press Journal
Pimpri-Chinchwad: The Maharashtra government will take a final decision on the proposed Pawana direct pipeline project only after holding discussions with farmers and local residents from Maval tehsil, Bhosari MLA Mahesh Landge said after a high-level meeting chaired by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Landge stated that the state government has agreed that the project should not move forward without taking farmers, local residents and “sons of the soil” into confidence. He said the chief minister has directed officials to hold a separate meeting with representatives of farmers’ organisations next week to discuss their demands before any final decision is taken.
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‘Project Is Important’
The review meeting at Vidhan Bhavan examined the administrative, technical, financial and legal issues related to the project. Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil; public representatives from Maval tehsil and Pimpri-Chinchwad City; senior government officials; and representatives from the Water Resources Department, Urban Development Department, Revenue Department, Railways, MSRDC, MSEDCL and PMRDA attended the meeting.
The government said the project is important because of Pimpri-Chinchwad’s growing population, increasing pollution in the Pawana River and the city’s future drinking water needs. At the same time, it assured that the interests of affected farmers would be protected.
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During the meeting, Landge said he was not opposed to the farmers’ demands. He said the project should be implemented only after addressing issues related to compensation, rehabilitation, and local residents' concerns. He added that work should begin only after the farmers’ demands are accepted. He also said better coordination between the administration, public representatives and farmers would prevent the problems that affected the earlier attempt to implement the project.
Officials also raised concerns over pollution in the Pawana River. They informed the meeting that laboratory reports had detected PFAS, phthalates, industrial chemicals, traces of pesticides, pharmaceutical residues and caffeine in the water. They said the direct pipeline project would help ensure a safe drinking water supply for the city in the future.
The meeting noted that Pimpri-Chinchwad’s population, currently estimated at around 3.5 million, is expected to reach nearly 10 million in the coming decades, making long-term water security a key priority. Discussions were also held on pending land acquisition, approvals from Railways and MSRDC, electricity connections from MSEDCL, issues within PMRDA limits and coordination among various departments.
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Chief Minister Fadnavis said the project was necessary for the future but would move ahead only after addressing the legitimate demands of farmers. He also directed officials to begin the process of providing jobs in the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation to the 12 farmers injured during protests against the project. He assured us that decisions on rehabilitation, compensation and other welfare measures for affected farmers would be taken as a priority.
Referring to the 2011 protests against the project, in which three farmers lost their lives and 12 others were injured, Landge said such an incident should never be repeated. He said the government is trying to resolve Pimpri-Chinchwad’s future water needs through dialogue while safeguarding the interests of farmers. He added that the next course of action would become clear after the proposed meeting with farmers’ representatives.