Announcing a conference of people affected by the Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Corridor (express highway) project, NCP chief Sharad Pawar today said the Maharashtra government was proceeding with land acquisition in a hurried manner.
"We had been in power for several years and we are not against development. I too have tackled similar issues of compensation (for land acquisition) when Navi Mumbai was being developed," Pawar said, talking to reporters here.
"I also headed a group of ministers which drafted land acquisition bill during UPA. With all this experience and from what the people affected by this project are saying, it seems the government is hastily pushing the project," Pawar said.
The NCP chief was speaking after meeting a delegation of project-affected people from 19 districts through which the express highway will pass.
"I hear that this project is pet project of a prominent leader," Pawar said, without naming the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
The project-affected people have also alleged that huge chunks of land along the Corridor have been purchased by some top government officials, Pawar said.
"We have appealed all the project-affected people to come to Aurangabad on June 12 and speak out (at a conference). We plan to keep it apolitical," Pawar said.
"Government officers have given us a presentation on the project. But after hearing the people it appears that the presentation was incomplete," Pawar said.
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