Maval will get 3 TMC water: Ajit Pawar

“3 TMC will irrigate 30,000 acres,much more than the 15,000 acres under irrigation in Maval. People will get enough water for irrigation and drinking purposes,” he said on Sunday.

“He is trying to fool us to get the pipeline work through. We won’t allow this. We will shed blood for water…,” said Balasaheb Pingle,secretary,Bharatiya Kisan Sangh,who met Chief Minister Prithivraj Chavan,who visited Maval on Sunday,and conveyed the anger of farmers to him.

Ajit Pawar,also the guardian minister of Pune,said the irrigation department had submitted to the Bombay High Court in writing that sufficient water will be ensured in the dam and the river throughout the year. “We have given an undertaking after which the court dismissed the petition of farmers,” he said.

Pingle said that the court had not dismissed the petition but asked the Water Resources Authority to look into the matter.

The guardian minister said,“From June to September,there would be plenty of rainwater in Pavana. For the next eight months,3 TMC would be released from the dam regularly. Besides,PCMC will construct two more Kolhapur-type weirs to take the total to 5. This means there will be water in the river throughout the year.”

Pingle said,“Of the 10.5 TMC available,6.5 TMC will flow to Pimpri-Chinchwad through two parallel pipelines. Of the remaining 3.5 TMC,nearly 2.5 TMC will go to PCMC MIDC area,some water will evaporate,some will percolate,some will remain in the dam. Maval will get only 1 TMC.”

“Pimpri-Chinchwad will get clean water,the cost of lifting water from the dam will be reduced and there would be big saving on electricity,” Pawar said pointing out that similar projects have been implemented in Pune,Nagpur,Osmanabad,Mumbai and Solapur.

Refuting allegations that the contractor was paid around Rs 150 crore in advance,he said,“We paid him Rs 50 crore as mobilisation advance as in the agreement.” He said several meetings were held with farmers and their representatives and public hearings were conducted. “The issue has been explained. Clearly,political parties are provoking farmers providing false information,” he said. He said that a high-level all-party meet will be convened under the CM to take a decision soon. “We are looking for a permanent solution for Pimpri-Chinchwad and Maval.”

He said MP Gajanan Babar and MLA Bala Begde were showing double standards. “When he was Haveli MLA,Babar had pitched for the pipeline project. But after he became Maval MP,he has been going against it. Begde has never written a single letter on the issue…He is opposing a project here,but what about the project of a top industrial house in other parts of Maval? He is supporting them…”

‘Maval a BJP conspiracy’

Condemning the Tuesday’s firing,Ajit Pawar on Sunday said it was a BJP conspiracy. “It was planned eight days in advance by the BJP. They are trying to provoke farmers against me,” he said at a press conference. He alleged that BJP leaders were targeting him. “I have information that BJP national leaders are behind this. They seem to have decided to single me out. In anticipation of their plan,we had placed 900 policemen and women on bandobast,but at no point asked them to resort to firing.

“He said the behaviour of BJP MLA Bala Begde outside the State legislature,the statements of BJP leaders and presence of many vehicles at the spot are pointers to a well-planned strategy to create trouble in Pune. “The BJP has wasted no time in announcing Rs 5 lakh compensation for victims. Why didn’t they do this for those who died in Nagpur and Jalna firing incidents? It shows the plan was already in place in Maval,” he said. He was evasive on whether police had erred in firing at the mob. He said,”Neither did I order the firing nor did the police call me to provide information. Anyone can check my mobile phone records. I have no hand in the incident…the BJP is trying to provoke people against me,” he alleged.