The state water resources department headed by Girish Mahajan (BJP) will float bonds to raise Rs 4800 crore for payment of compensation to four lakh farmers, whose land was acquired for irrigation projects across Maharashtra
A senior bureaucrat told TOI on Wednesday that alarmed by the plight of farmers, Mahajan had proposed to float bonds to raise funds. “The ambitious scheme has been approved and we expect that all the farmers will paid the compensation as early as possible, may be within one year,” he said.
He said while the land was acquired since 1976 for irrigation projects across the state, there was inordinate delay in payment of compensation due to litigation. In most the cases, the farmers had challenged the compensation before the court and subsequently, approached the higher court for enhanced payout. In accordance with court orders, if there is delay in compensation, then it has to be paid with nine per cent interest in the first year and 15 per cent interest in the subsequent years. “We studied all the cases of compensation, we found that if all the four lakh farmers are to be paid compensation, we will require Rs 4,800 crore. Mahajan decided to raise funds from bonds to clear the dues between 1976 and 2016,” he said.
On the status of irrigation projects, the bureaucrat said following a series of meetings Mahajan had with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) officials, a week ago, the financial institution released a loan of Rs 756 crore as a first instalment for completion of pending irrigation projects at a nominal interest of six per cent. “Between April 2016 and December 2019, NABARD has sanctioned Rs 12,773 crore for completion of 26 irrigation projects. Mahajan received the first installment of Rs 756 crore. Once all the projects are completed, it will bring in 5.56 lakh hectares additional land under irrigation,” he said.
The bureaucrat said it was for the first time in the recent past, there is adequate (87%) water stock in dams across the state. “So far, we were bringing 32 lakh hectares of land under irrigation, however, in view of adequate water stock, we have enhanced the target to 40 lakh hectares of land. It will be a new record,” he said.