India's biggest lake city project planned on 12,500 acres in the outskirts of Pune by Lavasa Corporation has begun to rock on a different note.
Land acquisition from farmers and transparency-related issuesrelating to agreements signed by Lavasa with the state government have come into sharp focus. These issues are likely to become larger in the run up to the coming assembly elections.
Right to Information (RTI) crusaders and Magsaysay awardees such as Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal, Aruna Roy and Medha Patkar are among those who have demanded an independent probe to set the record straight.
Driven by Lavasa Corporation, a subsidiary ofthe Mumbai-based HCC Real Estate Ltd., the project was in the limelight in the past due to its association with NCP chief Sharad Pawar's family and speedy clearances from Congress-NCP government.
The project has now begun to witness flashes of conflict between company officials and affected farmers led by National Alliance of People's Movement (NAPM) leader Medha Patkar and others.
To read more, please, visit - DNA: Mumbai
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If Lavasa has really not compensated farmers properly then they should. But at what rates ? at todays rates!! after investing millions to make it habitable ?
ReplyDeleteLavasa concept sounds like one where people from already crowded cities can move into & help reduce burden on Punes infrastructure. Its a 'city' created from scratch. It is not just any other existing city which keeps expanding & we can never cope up with the infrastructure. Lavasa must pay up if it has been unfair in their deals with farmers, no doubt. But If they have not, then Govt should try & stop such attempts to stop development. Lavasa will make millions, thats why they are into this project. But if it has been fair then its a first in this country, it has created far many jobs than any other similar project. We desperately want developers to create cities in areas which are inhabitable today. Existing population should be able to move into such places. It is a big solution to so many problems. This is my opinion, pls enlighten if I am missing anything !
The Lavasa lobby with support from Pawar and gand literally snatched farmer's land at very low rates. They looted farmers and widows by signing hundreds of acres of land at just a rate of Rs. 500 per acre.
ReplyDeleteGod is great, hope there will be justice.
Maybe when they signed those deals, the land there WAS worth no more than Rs 500. If you imagine, there were no roads in that area, no industry, no agriculture, no tourism, basically, nothing ... even if someone had bought land there for more, how would they reach it? on horseback? Its only after Lavasa spent crores of rupees, these areas have become accessible and the land prices have gone up. now the farmers want to reap the benifit of these higher prices. why?
ReplyDeleteAll those who are defending Lavas corp, Lavasa corp did not invest money in building the road to Lavasa from Chandani chowk (about 35 km), they have put up a toll booth at Chandani chowk to pay for that road. So please dont act like Lavasa is genuine in doing business here.
ReplyDeletealso just because there were not roads cant justify the land price at Rs.500 an acre as all this land is around the backwater of a dam. Also Lavas will be using this dam for its water usage which otherwise would have been useful to farms around it. So again please dont patronize them.
The farmers should get a fair value of their land, ofcourse it cant be the commercial value at present but it cant really be like few thousand rupees per acre when they are selling the properties here at few thousand rupees a square ft.
I understand that there should be encouragement to progress but at what cost? and why should the original land owners should pay for this. They should get good compensation.
Dear mr Rvvi Karandeekar
ReplyDeleteI have been a regular reader of your blog,Iam a real estate consultant,regularly keeping up date the news,knowlege from your blog!
About the LAVASA ,Its conservation of forestlands,why the farmers has agreed the cost while selling their lands?Now the co's has started reaping their financial fruits,the farmers exepecting a pie out of it?
# Ref: "I have been a regular reader of your blog,Iam a real estate consultant,regularly keeping up date the news,knowlege from your blog!"
ReplyDeleteThanks for the complements, Pramod!
I am happy to know that real estate professional like you, finds my blog useful.
Please, suggest how can i make it more useful for your business.
# Ref: "Now the co's has started reaping their financial fruits,the farmers exepecting a pie out of it?"
ReplyDeleteI believe in "inclusive growth"! Satish Magar Zindabad!!
i am an architect. just by accident i found this blog its interesting to know the facts about the whole thing. when farmer have sold the land they cant do any thing.i think there should be some kind of group formation for the farmers.
ReplyDeleteWhy Medha Patkar and the likes come forward only after the projects get off the ground and land prices zoom upwards ?? Why not before ?? Do they have no feeligs for the farmers until then?? It would be interesting to know what other social work these social workers (??) have done before or what social programmes they have in mind ( other than merely protesting ) for the future ??
ReplyDelete