Farmers at Mopa, who anxiously waited for the enhanced compensation by the government who acquired the land at Mopa due to the construction of the new airport, will soon receive three times more compensation as the state government has already cleared the proposal for revised compensation. Call it Diwali bonanza, the government has finalized around Rs 36 crore for the revised compensation to the affected farmers.
[su_expand more_text=”READ MORE” less_text=” ” height=”0″ hide_less=”yes” link_style=”button” link_align=”center”]Director of civil aviation Suresh Shanbhogue said the order has already been issued by the Director of Civil Aviation after the Finance Department has released the funds. However, he said, the exact date of the disbursement would be announced by the chief minister soon. Farmers, who received compensation earlier, will now receive the hiked compensation.
Earlier, the government had deposited Rs 54.79 crore with the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) for the purpose of land acquisition. The state government has acquired 78.41 lakh square meters of land for the proposed airport from the villages of Casarvarnem, Chandel, Varconda, Uguem and Mopa in Pernem taluka. In the last four years, EDC has disbursed Rs 12 crore, which is around 20 percent of the amount deposited, as compensation to the farmers so far. The remaining amount is the EDC, as it claims that some farmers’ payments are pending due to family disputes and lack of documents. Besides, some claims are pending in court.
According to a source, the director of civil aviation said, “Initially, the state government acquired the land for the proposed airport at Rs 40-Rs 80 per square meter, depending on the type of land and ownership. Now, the revised rate would be three times the actual rate, which was finalized a few years back, and it would be disbursed soon as promised by the government.”
Chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar had announced in the 2015 budget speech that the farmer compensation will be hiked four times. With just months left of the government’s tenure before the 2017 elections, farmers were apprehensive over the release of the compensation.
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