‘Admin grabbed land in Sadhu Gram’

‘Admin grabbed land in Sadhu Gram’

Abhijit MulyeUpdated: Saturday, June 01, 2019, 12:36 AM IST
article-image
‘Sadhu Gram’ built at Nashik for the Simhastha Kumbh |

Nashik : Even as the mega religious festival of Simhastha Kumbh is just round the corner, some of the Akhadas have complained that the government is after grabbing their land and the agencies are not compensating enough to the farmers whose land has been temporarily acquired to build the ‘Sadhu Gram’.

Mahant Ramasnehi Das, head of the famous Laxmi-Narayan temple trust, told FPJ that around 87 acres of the land that had been acquired by the administration in 2003 for the purpose of developing ‘Sadhu Gram’ has gone missing in past 12 years.

The administration constructs ‘Sadhu Gram’ a temporary settlement for the various Akhadas and Khalsas – the religious and spiritual organisations of Sanyasees – during every Simhastha Kumbh. This year the ‘Kumbh Mela cell’ of the district administration has received 338 applications for land space in Nashik and as many as 70 have applied for Trimbakeshwar.

The Vaishnav Akhadas settle at Nashik while the Shiva Akhadas settle at Trimbakeshwar. The district administration has acquired over 323 acres of land, part of which belongs to the municipal corporation and the rest has been temporarily acquired from farmers.

 As per the procedure, the plots at Sadhu Gram will be handed over to the Akhada Parishad, which will then distribute the same among the Akhadas and the Khalsas. In Nashik, the three Akhadas together have about 650 Khalsas.

As of now, there are 1,800 plots that have toilet and bathroom blocks along with a washing area outside with a tap. In front of the blocks is open space where the Akhadas and Khalsas will put up their tents.

But, some of the religious bodies like the Laxmi-Narayan temple trust have raised objections over the procedure. “The administration is after grabbing our land,” alleged Mahant Ramasnehi Das citing the survey numbers of the plots that the administration had acquired from the trust for Sadhu Gram.

“They had then told us that the land would be permanently reserved for the ‘Sadhu Gram’. But, in past 12 years most of the land is de-reserved and you can see residential and commercial complexes have been built over the land,” Das said.

He is also unhappy with the arrangement of temporary acquisition of land. “They acquire fertile land for one year and turn it into a barren land and they don’t compensate for that,” he said.

The administration has paid Rs 10.5 lakh per acre of the land that has been acquired for a year. But, the farmers will have to spend much more to make the land fertile again, the Mahant said.

RECENT STORIES

Mumbai News: Trust Files Petition In Bombay HC Challenging Cancellation Of Wilson College Gymkhana...

Mumbai News: Trust Files Petition In Bombay HC Challenging Cancellation Of Wilson College Gymkhana...

Mumbai: MSCPCR Objects To Maharashtra Govt's 'Selfie' Directive For Students; Writes Letter To CM...

Mumbai: MSCPCR Objects To Maharashtra Govt's 'Selfie' Directive For Students; Writes Letter To CM...

Mumbai: Scorching Heat Leads To 13 New Stroke Cases; Reveals Public Health Dept

Mumbai: Scorching Heat Leads To 13 New Stroke Cases; Reveals Public Health Dept

Mumbai: Central Railway's Mumbai-Hazrat Nizamuddin Rajdhani And Mumbai-Nagpur Duronto Express Trains...

Mumbai: Central Railway's Mumbai-Hazrat Nizamuddin Rajdhani And Mumbai-Nagpur Duronto Express Trains...

Mumbai: CBI Questions Gangster Prasad Pujari After Deportation From China; Reveals Meeting Kumar...

Mumbai: CBI Questions Gangster Prasad Pujari After Deportation From China; Reveals Meeting Kumar...