Details of “Chaar Kaam”
We attach herewith stories of two families from a village. Land in this village was acquired by Maharashtra government to construct dams. Land acquired was far in excess of actual requirements. According to rules, the excess land should either be returned to farmers or leased out to them for farming. Flouting these rules and despite repeated requests from farmers, the excess land was handed over to Nitin Gadkari's organizations by Ajit Pawar, the then Irrigation Minister. This was also in violation of rules because land belonging to irrigation department cannot be transferred or leased to private organizations. When farmers protested, they were threatened by Gandkari's henchmen.
Since Anjali set out on her investigations, Ghadge, the farmer from Umred, is being repeatedly threatened by Gadkari's men. This morning, he called up Anjali and started crying as he could not stand the pressures.
It is well known that farmers in this region have been committing suicides in large nos. These dams have been constructed for providing water for irrigation to farmers in this region. Central Government has also been generous in granting funds for construction of these dams. However, almost the entire water is being diverted for power and sugar industry. For instance, in Umred taluka, Lower Vena Vadgaon Dam was meant to provide irrigation water to these farmers. This dam has just one canal, which is non-functional. So, there is no question of the water reaching the farmers for irrigation. Instead, the entire water from this dam has been permitted to be used by Nitin Gadkari's firms and other industries in that area.
This is the story of almost all dams constructed in Maharashtra in the last few years. Almost the entire water from these dams is being diverted to power industries, which have mushroomed on the banks of these dams. Power industries need a lot of water. Ajit Pawar has diverted water meant for irrigation to power industry on large scale. These industries either belong to politicians from all parties or have strong political connections across all parties. Therefore, none of the parties wish to raise this issue.
Some people might argue - doesn't the country need electricity? Even if the dam water is being diverted for producing power, what is wrong in it? We completely agree that the country needs power. But the water to power industry should be provided honestly and in a transparent manner. It is cruel to divert the water meant for irrigating the lands of dying farmers. Huge funds are sanctioned for constructing dams to save the dying farmers. In order to construct dams, their lands are forcibly acquired, making their condition further miserable. But finally, the water from these dams is completely diverted to some industrialists through deceit? Isn't that wrong?
