NASIK, India: Local farmers on Friday in India's Nasik city continued their protests over government accusations that they had given up claim to their land. The Maharashtra state revenue department has claimed that the farmers had agreed to give up their land for the construction of a proposed Eklahara-Sinnar (Gulvanch) railway service between Nasik and Pune to the south. “It is not true and we haven't done this,” one farmer told Bikyamasr.com. Overall, farmers in the area allocated to the project have denied giving up their lands to the state government. But officials on Friday responded in a positive attitude on Friday, saying they would increase their offer from Rs 15 lakh (100,000) per acre to Rs 30 lakh per acre for the land, in addition to the value of the homes, trees and wells on the properties. “The farmers are ready and they have given their consent for the same,” said Sinnar tehsildar Ramsing Sulane, in comments published by Times of India. But many of the farmers remain on the outside, demanding to keep their land despite the new offer. “This is where our family has lived for many generations, so we don't want to move,” Rajneesh, a local farmer in his 50′s told Bikyamasr.com on Saturday. Both sides did meet on Thursday for a community discussion and state officials say they are optimistic that the project will go forward, despite the hiccups over the farmers' dissent to moving. “We are confident that in the end we will find an equitable solution to this issue that benefits the farmers and the government,” Nasik's local government said in a statement following the Thursday meeting. Now, however, it is a waiting game to see what the farmers will accept and if they will accept the relocation of their livelihoods and their families. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/bj3pr Tags: Farmers, Featurd, India, Maharashtra, Nasik, Railway Section: Business, Latest News, South Asia
