Farmers from Satara district withdrew their protest on Monday, following a ministerial meeting. But they have threatened to take jal samadhi if the government fails to keep its promises within a week.
Around 300 semi-nude farmers staged a protest in Azad Maidan. They alleged that the government had acquired their land in 1995 to rehabilitate farmers who lost their land to the Nira-Deogarh Irrigation Project (NDIP) that falls under the Maharashtra Krishna Khore Vikas Mahamandal. But, they discovered in 2008 that the land had been given to the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC). The farmers also protested inadequate water supply and employment in MIDC companies.
A delegation of farmers from the Shetkari Sanghatana Kisan Manch met Minister for Industries Subhash Desai at Mantralaya. The delegation said the minister had agreed to denotify the land and look into the water scarcity.
“We have been protesting for 10 years. We had not given our land to the MIDC, but to the farmers who had lost their land to the project under the Maharashtra Krishna Khore Vikas Mahamandal. We were promised that we would be given water from the Nira-Deogarh dam. While we did not receive the water, we found out that the land was acquired by the MIDC,” Pramod Jadhav, president of the manch, said.
“We have been cheated for long and finally it looks like we may get justice. The government has assured us that it will fulfil three of our demands and has sought seven days for starting the ground work. We are eager to see work begin on the ground, or else the onus of our deaths will be on the government,” Anand Dhumal, sarpanch, Kesurdi village, said.
