Cancel Shaktipeeth highway: Satej Patil

Kolhapur: Congress MLC Satej Patil took an aggressive stand when he put forward the demand of opposition parties to cancel the Nagpur-Goa Maharashtra Shaktipeeth highway on Saturday, the third day of the monsoon session of the Legislative council.
Deputy Speaker Neelam Gorhe adjourned the session for ten minutes after opposition parties aggressively opposed the highway.
In the legislative council session, MLC Satej Patil asserted that there is strong opposition from farmers in Kolhapur district along with Konkan and Sangli to the Shaktipeeth highway as they will become landless.
He said, nearly 27,000 acres of land will be acquired for the project and for whom is this project being implemented when there already is a parallel road? In just 20 days of the information, the authorities notified the land acquisition in haste. Who is this ‘Ji Huzoor’ who demanded the highway?
Earlier, Satej Patil promised in a protest rally at Kolhapur on June 18, 2024, that he will bring this issue in the monsoon session to the fore.
Patil said the highway is being constructed to connect 17 temples in the state. But the highway is in the interests of contractors and will be built on farmers’ lands. There are parallel roads connecting temples in the state, what is the need for this highway? Instead of spending 86,000 crore over this unnecessary highway, state govt should give 5,000 crore to each of these temples.
“Our warkari did not demand roads and walks to Pandharpur, he said, adding that if there was no demand for such a highway, then who proposed this idea?”he saked.
On one hand, he said, farmers and villagers were opposing the highway as this project would invite floods as 48 proposed bridges would act as barrages, while 200 crore were being spent to prevent flooding in the Kolhapur district.