Purandar Airport Moves Ahead With 94 Per Cent Consent Forms For Land Acquisition Received

In May, officials surveying land for the proposed Purandar International Airport were driven away with stones.

Four months later, the mood has shifted dramatically. 94 per cent of consent forms for land acquisition have now been signed, and surveys are being carried out in villages almost without incident, The Indian Express reported.

The change is rooted in three factors. In August, the government cut the acquisition size from 7,000 acres to 3,000 acres.

It also invoked the MIDC’s 2019 policy, which guarantees farmers 10 per cent of their acquired land back as developed plots in the Aerocity zone.

Added to this, fatigue from nearly a decade of protest has given way to resignation and a fear of missing out on benefits.

District Collector Jitendra Dudi, who has held more than 100 hours of talks with villagers since May, explained the concerns he sought to address.

“Their basic fear was that even if they get a huge amount of money, they will get completely displaced from the area… After understanding their issues I wanted to come up with a solution where the people will not get displaced, and while doing that they will be the first beneficiary of the project,” Dudi was quoted as saying in the IE report.

Farmers themselves admit to a shift in thinking. “If a big farmer gives his consent, the farmers around him feel that ‘He has signed it because he knows something. We should not miss out on the benefits he will get,'" a farmer was quoted as saying.

Please click here to add Swarajya as your preferred and trusted news source on Google

Also Read: India Mulls Purchase Of US Corn For Ethanol As Trade Talks Advance: Report