Shaktipeeth Expressway: Mah Govt starts forceful land surveys in Parbhani

Officials appointed by the Maharashtra State Government, on Friday, forcefully conducted land surveys for the ambitious Shaktipeeth Expressway project in two Parbhani villages, under heavy police deployment and ‘preventive’ detentions of locals. The Expressway, which has been planned to run across 12 districts in Maharashtra, has been facing opposition from farmers across the state, who have stopped the government officials from conducting land surveys in their villages. However, this time, the locals have alleged that the government brutally used force to conduct land surveys without the consent of the farmers who own these landholdings.

“They conducted land surveys in two villages in Parbhani district - Sahajpur Jawala in Parbhani taluka and Kothala in Sonpeth taluka. They have carried out these surveys without the consent of any of the affected farmers,” said Satish Ghatge, activist and a member of Salapuri Gram Panchayat in Parbhani. Ghatge is also one of the affected farmers, who is going to lose around seven acres of his landholding to the project. He was in Sahajpur Jawala on Saturday, where a police force was deployed to carry out the survey on Friday.

“The villagers were notified of today’s survey through personal notices a couple of days ago. However, on February 18th itself, the villagers had rejected these notices. We have opposed the project from the very beginning, we do not want to give our land for this road. However, over the last couple of days, the tehsildar was constantly telling the villagers that the survey was going to be conducted this time, no matter what,” Ghatge alleged. Indie Journal tried to contact the tehsildar about the incident, but could not reach him despite repeated attempts.

Police deployment and preventive detentions

Over the last year, farmers across the state have been protesting against the Shaktipeeth Expressway by not allowing the government officials from conducting surveys for the project. Administrative officials coming to the villages have been turned away by the farmers in almost every village that they visited. However, the government is still fixated on going ahead with the approximately Rs 96,000 crore project, deemed to be the ‘dream project’ of Fadnavis. Ghatge said that this time, they came prepared.

“Around 30-40 families in Sahajpur-Jawala will be affected by the project. The entire population of the village itself is that of around 500. But there were around 800-1000 police in the village this morning. They had brought around 100-150 vehicles. Why would they need such heavy deployment if not to suppress us?” Ghatge questioned.

Moreover, many activists and fellow protesters from across the district, who were trying to reach the village on Friday, were detained by the police in various police stations or in their homes, allegedly for preventive purposes.

“Around 30 to 40 people from across the district were detained by the police. Some were picked up on Thursday night, some on Friday morning. Especially those who have been involved in various protests were detained by the police,” Suresh Ikhe, farmer and teacher from Gangakhed taluka, who will also be losing his land to the project.

Ghatge said that police paid visits to almost all the affected families in Sahajpur Jawala on the intertwining night between Thursday and Friday, allegedly warning the people to cooperate with the land survey.

“On Friday morning, we reached the village at around 9 am. The police were already there by that time. The officials of Monarch Surveyors and Engineering Consultants Ltd, which has been given the contract to conduct land surveys, along with officials of the Revenue Department and Land Records Department reached the village at around 10 am. We were waiting for them to hold a discussion with them. But they refused to even talk to us and directly proceeded to conduct land surveys, despite a number of people as well as the land owners waiting to oppose them,” Ghatge said.

He alleged that the tehsildar and the police were very aggressive and told them that they will be arrested if they tried to obstruct the survey.

“We had decided that we were not going to let them conduct the survey. Letting go of our lands would be the death of us, anyway. So we threatened to harm ourselves by poisoning or self-incineration. When we refused to stop, they arrested us. They literally dragged us and pushed us into their vehicles. There were many women among us, they were also dragged aggressively. Some of their mangalsutras and necklaces broke in the process. After that, they divided us and took us to different police stations far from the village. Then they conducted the surveys without anybody’s consent,” Ghatge said.

He further said that while those detained were released after around 6 pm, no arrangements were made for them to come back to their villages.

“They took most of the women to Daithana Police Station, which is around 27km away from Sahajpur Jawala. And at 6 in the evening, they told the women that they are free to go, but will not be escorted back to the village because the police apparently did not have any vehicles to drop them. How were the women supposed to come back on their own, in the evening, when the road is not safe and there is no public transport available on the road?” Ghatge questioned.

Rush and suppression

Ikhe said that the notification issued by the Public Works Department for conducting land surveys was set to expire on March 7, 2026. He said that the government officials want to rush the land surveys before that and have scheduled surveys in the rest of the villages over the next week.

Ghatge added, “The first notification in this regard was issued on March 7, 2024. But the surveys could not be conducted due to opposition from farmers. They renewed it on March 7, 2025. But again, people refused to let the officials coming to conduct the surveys, to even enter the villages. It will be very difficult for them to renew the notification once again. Hence, they are rushing to conduct the surveys by any means possible.”

He said that during this time, the farmers and other activists had submitted their objections regarding the project and demanded to be heard at a public hearing over the same. “But the government did not listen to us. Hence we rejected the land survey notices issued by the tehsildar. How could we let them conduct the surveys when they are not even ready to listen to us,” Ghatge said.

Issue of acquisition and compensation

He further said that through this entire process, the government has not said anything about compensation at all.

“We are not asking about the compensation because we are not interested in giving our land up in the first place. However, even the government officials have not spoken about it. There is no clarity," Ghatge said.

The activists have also alleged that the government is trying to acquire the land by applying the Displaced Persons (Compensation and Rehabilitation) Act, 1954 instead of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (RFCTLARR).

“This will drastically reduce compensation if the government succeeds in acquiring the land from the farmers. Moreover, there is no clarity among the farmers about whether they will be rehabilitated, resettled, anything at all,” Ikhe said.

He also pointed out that while the land in Parbhani district is now under the command area of Jaikwadi Dam and is well irrigated, the 7/12 documents still mention it as rainfed or unirrigated land, which he alleges is being misused by the government.

“The government will try to value the land as unirrigated, which will be much lower than the actual value of the land. We have opposed this. Also, we asked them to estimate the compensation as per the market value of the land holdings in our region. In my village, just a few days ago, a one acre plot of land was sold for Rs 24 lakh 50 thousand. As opposed to this, the government estimates the value of the land holdings at about Rs 5.5 lakh per hectare. Such is the huge difference between the market value and the government estimated value. It is unjust to the farmers,” Ikhe said.

Protests to intensify

“I have a total of 10 acres of land. The government wants seven acres out of it for the Shaktipeeth Expressway project. The road will pass through my field. I will be left with barely two acres on one side of the road and one acre on another. How will I cultivate anything there? This will finish me,” Ghatge said, adding that there is no alternative left but to protest.

“The government has planned to conduct land surveys in the rest of the affected villages in Parbhani district over the next week. We are going to intensify the protests and try our best to stop the surveys, no matter what,” he said.

Opposition and farmer leaders from all over the state have expressed solidarity with the farmers and have condemned the way the land survey was conducted on Friday. The Shaktipeeth Expressway affected villages in other districts as well have warned of intense protests if the surveys continue under police deployment.