After the Adarsh housing scam, which is
still fresh in the memory of the people, social activists are up in arms
against the state government. It appears that nothing is working positive for
the Congress or its ally the Nationalists Congress Party (NCP) in the state.
Renowned social activist Medha Patkar
on Sunday demanded that the Maharashtra government scrap the entire Lavasa
project and said that all those who lost their land and faced hardships should
be compensated by the state government. She also questioned the earlier
decision of the state government that the irregularities in the project would
be ‘regularized’ by imposing fines. “Such a move by the government would be
outright illegal,” she stated.
Patkar further said, “The federal Ministry
of Environment and Forest too had issued a show cause notice to the Lavasa
Corporation Ltd., questioning as to why the illegal structures at the hill city
should not be razed for violation of the Environment Protection Act. Similarly,
we too question the piece-meal sanction of permission given to Lavasa. In the
very first instance we would like to know why permission was given for the
first 5,000 acres and that for the rest of the 25,000 acres will be given in
phases.”
Another renowned social activist Anna
Hazare also lashed out at the government and threatened to go on hunger strike
on the Lavasa project issue from Dec. 1. Hazare warned that water to Lavasa will
affect supply to Pune city. “I warn that Pune’s water supply would take a big
hit when the Lavasa hill city becomes fully operational as water from the
Varasgaon Dam in Pune has been partly diverted for the project.
“Pune depends on the Varasgaon dam for water.
The state government has constructed 10 small dams in the back waters of the
Varasgaon Dam to make water available for Lavasa. And when Lavasa city begins
lifting water to meet its total requirement, there will be a fight over the
precious commodity between the administrators of the two cities.”
Hazare accused the state government of having exceeded its powers while
transferring the land, which was under ceiling, and the land designated as
tribal land to Lavasa Corporation.
