Bawankule says Sayaji Shinde will be heard on Karjat tree felling, but hydro project must not go back

A sizeable controversy has been running for the past few days over the felling of trees in the Sai Dongar area of Karjat in Raigad district. The ruling side and the opposition have come face to face over the matter. State Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule has now responded.

Bawankule said a hydro project is a boon for the state and that it is giving cheap electricity today. He said hydro projects never harm the environment and instead provide cheap power. He said they would hear what senior actor Sayaji Shinde has to say. According to Bawankule, the government will provide land for as many trees as need to be planted. He also said that felling trees is not right, but it is also not right for the hydro project to go back. In his view, it will give farmers electricity during the day and bring them relief.

The background to the dispute is that Torrent's Sai Dongar pumped storage hydroelectric project has been proposed in Karjat taluka of Raigad. It will generate 3,000 megawatts of power. It is a green energy project, but a large number of trees will be felled for it, and voices of protest have been raised. Senior actor Sayaji Shinde has taken a stand against it and has spoken against the government.

In the same conversation, Bawankule also announced two decisions concerning farmers. He said his government had taken a very important decision today. Some tribal people are cultivating land but their names are not on the land lease records, and they are not covered under other schemes either. In different parts of the state, Farmer IDs could not be made for different reasons. Although there is no set procedure (SOP) for such people, the Revenue Department has decided that anyone holding even a single proof from before 1 January 2025 will be given a Farmer ID. Bawankule said that on the occasion of Diwali the government has given this gift to 160,000 farmers. He said every farmer who was cultivating any kind of land before 1 January 2025, with handwritten records, even if the land is government land, will get a Farmer ID.

The second decision concerns crop inspection, that is, the checking of crops. Bawankule said this inspection will now be done offline. According to him, the stalled crop checks of more than 100,000 farmers will now become easier.

Bawankule also said the Chief Minister's Relief Fund cell will now function at taluka level. He said patients earlier had to make many rounds at the district level, so it was good that the arrangement is now at taluka level. He said all ministers of the state have decided to celebrate Diwali at farmers' homes in their respective areas. According to him, they are going to stay overnight in Lohari Sangwa village and will present the village with a project that has been stuck for many years, starting it tomorrow. Bawankule said the Chief Minister will stay at a farmer's home, so the farmers' Diwali will be a sweet one.