GAURESH SATTARKAR
The Mirabag protest against the con troversial Bandhara pro ject has taken a dramatic turn on its 15th day, after villagers uncovered se rious irregularities in land ownership, survey records and official per missions linked to the ongoing works. The revelations have infuriated residents, who now allege that digging was carried out on pri vate land without valid consent or proper clear ances. With tempers ris ing, villagers have warned that the agitation is set to escalate. On Tuesday, environmen talist Abhijit Prabhudesai visited the protest site to scrutinise survey plans, land records and owner ship details related to the works already undertaken by the Water Resources De partment (WRD). During the verification process, villagers found that Survey No 1/1 is the site where the Ganesh Vis arjan shed is located. Sur vey Nos 3/1 and 3/2, situ ated along the riverbank, belong to the Chowgule company. According to residents, the company had issued a No Objection Certif icate (NOC) only for due land acquisition procedures, if required for any project — not for excavation work. However, digging has already been carried out in Survey No 3/3, which, villagers say, belongs to local residents. They maintain that no NOC was granted for such work. “The NOC was given by the Chowgule company only for the process of land acquisition and to follow legal procedures before bringing in any project. It was not given for digging activities. However, digging has been carried out on private property without an NOC, allegedly to extract iron ore present there. This amounts to trespass and is a criminal offence. For this act, we will file a complaint against the contractor, Manoj Dukle, and also submit a complaint to the Mines Department. We will further demand that the contractor be blacklisted and arrested,” revealed protest leader, Sanket Bhandari. The findings left villagers questioning how excavation could proceed without clear ownership verification and statutory permissions. Con cerns have also been raised over ongoing pipeline work, which would re quire approvals from the Public Works Department (PWD) and the local panchayat. Protesters recalled that when they earlier took a morcha to the Sanvor dem Panchayat, the Sarpanch reportedly denied granting any permission and claimed to have no knowledge of the work. Prabhudesai pointed out that such works cannot proceed without panchayat approval, further deepening suspicions of procedural violations. He also presented the Bandhara project map to villagers, warning that the proposal could pose serious risks and potentially impact the entire vil lage in its initial phase. “The area where digging has been carried out does not belong to the Chowgule or the government; it is private land. The WRD contractor has committed criminal trespass and caused destruction to the area. In fact, the government itself should file a case and ensure the arrest of those re sponsible. From the documents we examined, it appears that the govern ment does not have complete information about the Bandhara project’s impact, including the river’s actual condition and depth. These gaps are evident in the papers,” Abhijit Prabhudesai said. “This raises serious concerns about whether the project is being pushed forward without proper study or direction from the top level. It is becom ing clear from the available records that executing such a project on this river is not feasible,” Prabhudesai added. Following Tuesday’s discussions, villagers decided to file a formal com plaint at the Curchorem Police Station against the contractor and other authorities involved in the Bandhara project. With anger mounting and new irregularities coming to light, residents have signalled that the agitation is likely to intensify unless the govern ment immediately halts the project and orders a transparent probe into the alleged violations.
