According to Chandrakant Gurav, who heads the local action committee of the Sanghatana on the issue, farmers likely to be displaced by the proposed alignment of the expressway in the Igatpuri block, are being mobilised for the agitation. The farmers are being told to refuse compensation offered to them by the government in lieu of their land and, instead, demand share in the profits of the firm which would undertake the expressway project under the Build, Operate, Transfer (BOT) privatisation scheme of the government.

The Sanghatana has been holding meetings of farmers in various villages in Igatpuri, urging them to exercise their rights instead of accepting the ``meagre compensation'' offered by the government. The farmers havealso been told to demand development rights (of setting up commercial establishments and shops) along the proposed expressway, to be partners in progress.

According to the Sanghatana, the existing Land Acquisition Act is outdated old and has no provision to tackle situations arising out of the new policy of privatising public works. The organisation has therefore decided to publicly burn copies of the Act, demanding a share for displaced farmers in the profits of the construction company. The Sanghatana has accused the government of pampering private companies ``at the cost of the sons of soil'', as the firms would earn crores of rupees by way of toll on the new expressway.

The Sanghatana has also floated the idea of forming a farmers' cooperative to undertake small stretches of the new expressway, and recover the investment through a toll, like a private firm. The expressway will run across an approximate length of 200 km. A 128-km stretch from Thane to Rajur Bahula (about 30 km south of Nashik) has beencleared so far. From Rajur Bahula to Adgaon, the expressway was to pass through the Nashik city.

But after a hue and cry by local developers and builders, the expressway was diverted via Pathardi, Vihitgaon, Eklehra, to bypass Nashik city. The diversion however passes through the constituency of social welfare minister Babanrao Gholap, who has opposed the new alignment.