September 10th, 2011

PUNE: The National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) will release its inquiry report on the police firing at Maval in 15 days.

This was stated by Suniti S R, national coordinator of the alliance, while addressing a news conference on Thursday after a meeting with Ashish Sharma, municipal commissioner, Pimpri-Chinchwad mayor Yogesh Behl and civic officials.

“The incident took place a month ago during the agitation of Maval farmers against the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation’s Pavana dam-Nigdi water pipeline project,” said Suniti.

“The alliance formed a five-member committee to conduct an impartial inquiry into the incident and its causes on August 11. Jaya Sagade, vice-principal, ILS Law College, D N Dhanagare, former vice-chancellor, Kolhapur University, social activist Vidya Bal, water and agriculture expert Mukund Ghare and I are members of the committee. “

The committee has met the farmers, relatives of the victims of the police firing, district collector and others and plans to meet Sandeep Karnik, former superintendent of police, Pune rural, to get his views. “We are studying the reasons for the unrest of farmers that led to the agitation, whether the firing could have been averted, the background of the agitation, the reasons for the police resorting to firing and also how the farmers died in the firing and where they were hit,” she said.

“The primary report of the committee is expected in 15 days. We will make various demands to the state government and the civic body and also give alternative solutions based on the findings of the report. This report will be useful to the state government and the civic body in solving the grievances of the farmers,” said Suniti.

The state government has acquired land from farmers in Maval taluka for various purposes but did not give proper compensation or rehabilitate the farmers.

This has fuelled anger among the farmers, who are not willing to give more land to the state government for developmental works. If the state government had rehabilitated all the farmers affected by the Pavana dam, then the farmers of Maval taluka woud not have agitated, she said.

source:http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-09-10/pune/30138882_1_farmers-maval-inquiry-report