Sharad Pawar reveals Lavasa links: I selected the site, he says

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president and Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Monday made extraordinary revelations about his personal and family involvement in the controversial Lavasa Lake City  project in Pune district.

“It is 100% true that I selected the site for Lavasa,” Pawar told DNA in a rare three-hour interview at his Govind Baug farmhouse in Malegaon, Baramati, on Monday.

Defending the project emphatically, he said he spotted the picturesque backwaters of the Warasgaon dam during one of his helicopter trips, when, as chief minister of Maharashtra he wanted to identify sites for tourism development. “I brought the helicopter down to examine the spot. I was later told that there was sparse habitation at that place,” he said.

Nicknamed ‘Sharad Pawar’s project’, Lavasa lake city is a massive township planned by the Hindustan Construction Corporation (HCC) over 12,500 acres in the backwaters of the Warasgaon dam amid a newly designated, 25,000-acre hill station in Mose valley, 65km from Pune.

Projected to have a population of 1.10 lakh on completion in 2020, Lavasa has generated controversy and drawn protests from eminent social workers like Anna Hazare, Medha Patkar and others over tribal land acquisition issues, water rights, concessions and speedy clearances given by the state government.

Pawar revealed he introduced the site to his close friend, industrialist Ajit Gulabchand, who heads HCC and hails from Walchandnagar, near Baramati. While Gulabchand wanted to create independent India’s first hill station (as Lavasa is described in company literature), he (Pawar) wanted to promote tourism in Maharashtra, not only at pilgrim centres but also around spots of natural beauty.    

"As chief minister, I gave annual grants of Rs25 crore for the development of Dehu, Alandi, Pandharpur, Shegaon, Shirdi and Tuljapur. I gave funds for the development of Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai—see the crowds there today. Rome and London get 60% of their gross income from tourism. Therefore, I felt, we should develop tourism in Maharashtra,” he said.

The NCP president acknowledged that his daughter and Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule and her husband Sadanand were prominent share holders in the Lavasa project in its initial stages.

“This is 100% true,” he said, without touching upon conflict of interest issues. He explained the shareholding by simply stating: “Sadanand is in the business of buying and selling shares.” At the same time, he said, if any irregularities have been committed either by Lavasa Corporation, HCC or Gulabchand, they should be held accountable.

Pawar said it is obvious that a few things could go wrong while undertaking a mammoth project like a hill station or a township.

“In that case, take corrective action. If adivasi lands are involved, take action and give them compensation. But why destroy the concept?” he asked.

He supported Gulabchand for developing Independent India’s first hill station on barren land that was sparsely populated and Lavasa’s emergence as a major centre of education. “I don’t think he is committing a crime. If there is a need for inquiry into the project, conduct it by all means,” Pawar said.