The compensation that was decided — 10 per cent of the market rate as per the ready reckoner for the right of use – works out to Rs 3 per sq ft and the villagers are unhappy that this has no correlation with the ruling market rate of Rs 500-600 per sq ft.

On Wednesday, the villagers met Pune district collector Prabhakar Deshmukh and pointed out that there was no consent taken from them before the work commenced.

“We were not properly briefed. In the process of laying the pipeline, as per the rule specified, some constructions that were coming within 100 feet of the pipeline had to be pulled down. We want a change in the alignment of the pipeline route to avoid pulling down of more structures. We have also demanded more compensation,” said farmer Ramesh Takalkar who is a gramsabha member of Pimple-Jagtap village.

However, Deshmukh said the alignment of the pipeline cannot be changed as it is a plan passed by the central government. With the farmers being unhappy about the compensation, he said that it would be doubled from the existing Rs 3 per sq ft to Rs 6 per sq ft. He said that he was hopeful that the problem would be resolved soon.

The farmers from these villages have pointed out that Section 5 of the Petroleum and Mineral Pipeline Act stands violated as they were not informed about the details of the project. Another farmer, Ramdas Bendhebar, said the company officers kept reiterating that since it is a government project, they would not be allowed to raise any opposition to this project.

“We want the matter to be taken up by the Petroleum Board and as there is a provision to change the alignment provided the board takes a re-look at the project,’’ said Bendhebar. He also pointed out that there was a mention of the pipeline in the ‘seven by twleve’ extracts. “Why should there be mention of the pipeline in the revenue document?” he asked. While the pipeline will also pass across Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat, in Maharashtra it will pass through Latur, Osmanabad, Solapur, Ahmednagar, Pune, Raigad and Thane districts - covering approximately 565 km of the pipeline.