“I am tired of waiting for the Divisional Commissioner Nitin Kareer to initiate action. Our team will mobilise the villagers in the district and a mass rally will be taken out,”said Patkar from New Delhi.

Patkar had given a letter to Nitin Kareer on March 28. “Even after two months, nothing has happened. We will carry out a mass movement to address this issue,” said Patkar. However, Kareer said that one case has been forwarded to the district collector and he would be open to those approaching him. “I had told them to approach us with cases. I am open to addressing the case. In one case, a land holder had conducted the deal in an inebriated state. The matter will be taken up,” said Kareer.

Patkar along with Bhai Vaidya had demanded a CBI probe into the land acquired for the Lavasa resort township, 60 kms from the city. After meeting villagers who alleged fraudulent transactions, she had demanded that a committee be appointed to conduct a detailed inquiry of all the transactions concerned with the ultra modern township coming up on 9000 acres in the backwaters of Varasgaon dam.

With already one PIL submitted by Baramati resident Shyamsundar Potare pending in the high court, Patkar said she would not hesitate to file another one once she gets the details. “The villagers have been tricked into these transactions,” she said. Some villagers alleged that they had been fleeced into accepting to part with the land. Uma Alekar, a resident from Mugaon who had accompanied Patkar, had no knowledge about her 300 acres being taken away for the project. “Though we had pressurised the divisional commissioner and collector to look into the issue, it is sad that nothing has been done,” she said.

The plan includes construction of captive mini-dams, helipads, ropeways and luxury hotels and it has seen acquisition of land from the villagers at merely Rs 500 per acre, said Patkar. “Most of the villagers have not got the compensation and those who have been issued cheques have bounced,” she added.