Displaced by Morbe Dam, locals ransack project office, threaten suicide

PANVEL: Hundreds of Morbe dam project affected persons (PAP) barged into the project office and ransacked it on Thursday. The PAPs, who have been demanding rehabilitation, compensation and jobs for the youth for over three decades, also tried to stop the water supply to Navi Mumbai, but were restrained by police personnel. They have now threatened to end their lives by jumping into the dam if their demands are not fulfilled.

Located around 34 kms from Navi Mumbai, Morbe dam was constructed by Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran in the 1990s and purchased by the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) in 2009. It is the primary source of water for the city.

On June 27, people from eight villages and seven hamlets whose lands were acquired for the project began an indefinite relay hunger strike near the tehsil office. The Morbe dam PAP Action Committee, which is leading the protest, said 3,322 acres of land was acquired from PAPs between 1988 and 1990. “We were promised compensation at ?65,000 per acre but received only ?14,000 per acre. Worse, the compensation paid for non-cultivable land was only ?80 per acre. The farmers and tribals were cheated,” said Parshuram Mirkute, working president of the PAP Action Committee.

The PAPs are demanding rehabilitation under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. In addition to compensation, they want jobs for the youth. They also want authorities to acquire the remaining land in affected villages and hamlets and return 22.5% of the developed land to them.

“We have been raising these demands for over 33 years, but officials do not seem to care,” said Mirkute.

Jagannath Patil, president of the action committee, said even when they started the hunger strike on June 27 and threatened to stop the water supply from the dam, they did not get any response from officials. “This is the reason why hundreds of PAPs marched to the dam today to demand justice,” he said.

Nearly a thousand PAPs including women assembled near the dam on Thursday morning. They removed the barricades placed by the police, broke open the gate, and ransacked the office, destroying all the furniture. Some reports also suggested there was stone-pelting. The protestors then headed to the flap gate area, demanding that water supply to Navi Mumbai be stopped. The situation was brought under control by police personnel present in the area.

“The PAPs are desperate and the youth have decided to commit suicide by jumping into the dam if our demands are not met,” said Patil.

Former deputy mayor of Panvel, Jagdish Gaikwad, who visited the spot with other leaders after the vandalism incident extended his support to the PAPs. “It is unfortunate that the PAPs have to agitate for their rights. Their condition is such that they plan to give up their lives by drowning in the water. Action should be taken against the officials responsible for this situation,” said Gaikwad.

NMMC officials were unavailable for comments.