KOLHAPUR: Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday assured the delegation led by Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghtana leader Raju Shetti that a gazette notifying compensation to the farmers as per the relief extended after the 2019 floods will soon be issued.
After the five-day protest by villagers along the Panchaganga river concluded on Sunday at Narsinhawadi, Thackeray invited Shetti for discussions.
The discussion was held at the CM’s office for over an hour.
Shetti demanded that the farmers affected by floods in Panchaganga and Krishna rivers in July should be compensated as per the 2019 policy. Thackeray had earlier made an oral announcement that the compensation will be granted as per 2019 policy, but there was no official gazette notification issued regarding the same.
“The CM said he will keep his word. He will take up the issue with the state cabinet and issue a notification in this regard for implementation. We said we trust his assurance, but for us, the option to hit the streets again is open if the CM fails to fulfil his promises. We also brought it to his notice that an announcement made by him to pay the farmers Rs 50,000 as encouragement grant for paying back loans regularly has not been fulfilled yet,” Shetti said.
Shetti also demanded that the funds available with district collector to implement Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) should be utilised for employing the daily wage workers to remove the damaged crops from the fields. “For farmers to remove the damaged crops and level the fields around Rs 10,000 per acre will be required which is not available with them. In Kolhapur, Sangli, the funds for MNREGA remains unutilised,” said Shetti.
Build dams for flood management
Shetti suggested that between the stretch from Mahabaleshwar and Amboli of Western Ghats, small capacity dams should be built totalling 100 TMC to accommodate excess rain water. The dams needs to be exclusively used for flood management. Shetti suggested that the CM should take up the issue with central water commission which is the implementing authority for Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal involving Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
