Activists from the Wadgaon-Maval unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena attempted to shut down the work of the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation's (PCMC) pilot 'closed pipeline' project for lifting water directly from Pavana dam to Nigdi, in Gahunje village on Monday afternoon.
Civic officials had started the work on Monday at 11 am, but nearly 700 BJP-Sena activists demonstrated at the site in Gahunje village. Maval Kissan Sangh president Shankar Shelar, Bharatiya Kisan Sanghatana secretary Balasaheb Pingle and Maval taluka BJP president Bhaskar Mhalskar were also present.
The police arrested nearly 30 activists, but released them in the evening. The activists, who took part in the agitation under the leadership of Maval Sena MLA Bala Begade, were prevented by the police from disrupting the work and from damaging machinery at the site.
The activists threatened to disallow the pipeline work unless the PCMC compensates local farmers. According to the civic officials, only 10% of the project work has been completed on account of opposition from farmers to land acquisition for the project, to lay the 4-3-km pipeline.
The Centre has approved the project under the Jawaharlal Nehru national urban renewal mission (JNNURM), for completion by April 30, 2010.
However, the project deadline was recently extended till December 2011.
