Proposal of land acquisition near Jayakwadi still pending

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The proposal, submitted by the Water Resources Department to the Government to acquire 184 hectares of land near Jayakwadi is still pending.

According to details, when the Jayakwadi dam fills up to 70 per cent, the crops on the 184 hectares of land near the dam that was not acquired go underwater.

This causes losses to 200 farmers every year. The department has to compensate the farmers for the losses. So, the Department sent a proposal to the Government last year to acquire the land. However, no decision has been taken on this yet.

Around 1.88 lakh acres of land in four districts namely Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Jalna, Parbhani and Beed have come under irrigation due to the Jayakwadi reservoir in Paithan.

The drinking water problem of many cities and villages in Marathwada has been permanently solved because of the project.

As soon as 70 per cent of the water is stored in this dam during the monsoon, the crops on about 184 hectares of land outside the submerged area go underwater. This affects more than 200 farmers.

The water accumulated in the fields remains until March-April.

The water starts to recede after these months. If there is good rain in Nashik and Ahilyanagar districts, the water storage of the Jayakwadi project increases. However, farmers sow every year because they do not know in June whether the dam will fill up to 70 per cent water or not.

When the crops are in good condition, if the dam reaches 70 per cent in August and September, water accumulates in the fields of the farmers near the dam. As a result, all the crops go underwater. Against this backdrop, farmers demand compensation. The Water Resources Department also compensates the farmers.

A proposal was submitted to the Government by the Command Area Development Authority (CADA) to acquire the land of these farmers, instead of paying compensation every year.

Officers from CADA said that even after a year, the Government had not taken any decision yet.