Kolhapur: Farmers from Solapur’s Madha tehsil held a protest march against the proposed Pavnar to Patradevi (Nagpur-Goa) Shaktipeeth Expressway on Tuesday outside the Madha tehsil office. They threatened to disrupt Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s visit to Pandharpur for Ashadi Ekadashi on July 26.
Alignment and Survey Details
As per the new alignment, the highway passes through Madha tehsil of Solapur district, continues into Satara district, Kolhapur district, before entering the Konkan region and ending at Patradevi on the Maharashtra-Goa border. The ground survey of the alignment has started in Solapur district under heavy police protection. On Tuesday, at Karkamb in Pandharpur tehsil, hundreds of farmers gathered at the survey site. The surveyors left the site without completing the day’s task.
Farmers' Agitation at Madha
At Madha, a large number of farmers agitated to protest the recent allegations made against them — about destroying survey equipment, physical attacks on surveyors and police — and marched to the tehsil office.
Sanjay Patil Ghatnekar, the convenor of the forum of farmers opposing the highway, said, “The farmers will lose their grape orchards, pipelines, and houses. Some hamlets will be erased from the map if the Shaktipeeth Expressway is allowed. Therefore, we strongly oppose the highway. None of the farmers wanted the highway. It is being forced upon us, making us landless in the end. We want CM Devendra Fadnavis to cancel the highway, or we will stop him from performing puja at the Vitthal-Rukhimi temple on Ashadi Ekadashi day,” said Ghatnekar.
Ashadi Ekadashi Significance
On Ashadi Ekadashi, the main puja is performed in the presence of the Chief Minister of Maharashtra at Pandharpur’s Vitthal-Rukhmini temple.
