In February 2024, 42-year-old farmer Ananda Bhairu Shinde woke up to a distress call from a friend, informing him that their village land in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district was falling under the Shaktipeeth Expressway project. Ananda said he, along with other village farmers, were already worried after witnessing the sight of drones being flown over their village land for a “survey” in January.
“I immediately checked the file of the Gazette notification I received from my friend. The survey number and village name were mentioned. So within the next week, we started mobilising the farmers. Even farmers from nearby affected villages joined us to oppose it at any cost,” Ananda told Land Conflict Watch (LCW), recalling the initial days of opposition against the expressway in his village, which eventually became a part of large-scale protests across the affected districts in Maharashtra.
Ananda is one among thousands of farmers in the state opposing the land acquisition for the Nagpur-Goa Expressway, also known as the Shaktipeeth Expressway, that will pass through 12 districts – Wardha, Yavatmal, Hingoli, Nanded, Parbhani, Latur, Beed, Dharashiv, Solapur, Sangli, Kolhapur, and Sindhudurg – of Maharashtra.
The multi-lane expressway aimed at “reducing time travel” between Nagpur and Goa was announced by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in September 2022. The 802-kilometre, six-lane expressway was supposed to be the longest in the state and was flaunted for promoting religious tourism, as it will pass through three Shaktipeeths—Mahalaxmi, Tuljabhavani, and Patradevi. But soon after the announcement, massive protests erupted against land acquisition for the project throughout the 12 districts. Land owners feared threats to agriculture, livelihood, irrigation system, and the Western Ghats and its biodiversity and expressed concerns around yearly floods and the vulnerability of the landless.
The protests caused political turmoil. The ruling coalition witnessed a sharp decline in the Parliamentary constituencies in these 12 districts in the general election results in June this year. Out of 15 Parliamentary constituencies, the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) won in 12, an independent candidate won in one, and the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won in only two seats. This caused a reality check for the ruling alliance, prompting a pause on land acquisition for the highway project, though no official announcement has yet been made regarding the project.
The controversial land acquisition, however, is still haunting the ruling alliance in these districts, as landowners are leveraging their votes in the upcoming Assembly election to demand cancellation of the project.
‘We will be landless’
On August 11, 65-year-old farmer Sushila Gopal Patil, along with several other farmers from the Kogil Budruk village in Kolhapur district, travelled nearly 17 km to join a protest at the district collectorate demanding cancellation of the expressway. For Sushila, who has a family of eight members, joining the protest was crucial, as she feared that the highway project could make her completely landless.
“Earlier, I had lost one acre of my land to NH 4. Now with the Shaktipeeth highway, my remaining five acres of land are to be taken. Not even a gunta of land will remain for me, and when I die, there will be no land for us to be cremated. None of my family members have jobs; we completely depend on the land for farming,” Sushila told LCW.
Sushila said that she mostly grows rice and soybeans on the five acres of land and generates around Rs 5 lakh every year, and the project can snatch her yearly earnings and livelihood as a whole. “The chief minister introduced the Ladki Bahin Yojana for women in Maharashtra. Am I not a woman and sister? On one side, you will take my five acres of land and the livelihood of eight members of my family, and on the other, you will pay me Rs 1,500 a month under the Yojana? If we are your Ladki-Bahin, save our land,” Sushila said.
Like Sushila, the protesting farmers across the twelve districts are majorly concerned about two issues—the project can not only make farmers landless and take away their only source of livelihood, but also ruin the environment.
Seventy-five-year-old farmer Bhairu Pandurang Takmare said that his village, Kogil Budruk, witnessed a rampant water crisis before 2010, which limited their income through agriculture. Subsequently, Bhairu and other villagers had formed a group of farmers to fund an irrigation system through loans in the village.
“We used three lifts to bring water from the Dudhganga river to our village, which is 10 km away from the river. All the finances were dealt with through loans, and no political leaders helped us. Before solving this water crisis, we were able to produce only rice, peanuts, and soybeans during the monsoon. But after this irrigation system was implemented, our farmers started growing sugarcane, which helped us a lot.”
The expressway project, Bhairu pointed out, would ruin the irrigation system that they developed over the years in the face of the water crisis they had witnessed decades ago.
For Shivaji Kokane, a 35-year-old farmer whose land also falls under the project, one-time compensation for the land can’t provide livelihood to the generations to come. He currently owns 4.5 acres of land on which he has been practising organic farming, majorly growing rice, wheat, and vegetables of around 20 types – starting from tomatoes to brinjals. He has more than 150 trees of 12 categories on the land, including java plum, tamarind, mango, lemon, and jackfruits.
“This land is everything for me, and the compensation won’t be able to provide me with what the land does. We have struggled and given a lot to this land; you can compensate us, but what will be left for our coming generations? We grow the grains and vegetables organically because it has health benefits, is crucial even for the environment, and prevents soil degradation. You may compensate us, but will that give us good food? Who can assure us food security that we will be able to get the same organic produce? You won’t be able to. This fertile land that we have today is the result of the efforts and struggle of several generations, including our forefathers,” Shivaji said.
The political repercussion
By January 2023, three firms had submitted bids for the project by Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation. In February 2024, the state government had granted approval for the alignment of the expressway, and on February 28, the state’s Public Works Department, through a Gazette notification under the Maharashtra Highways Act 1955, declared the lands across the 12 districts to be acquired for the Shaktipeeth Expressway. This gradually paved the way for protests in different districts of West Maharashtra, Vidarbha, and Marathwada regions.
Despite the protests demanding cancellation of the expressway beginning right from March this year, the Shaktipeeth Expressway found mention in rallies of the 2024 general elections. In April, during an election rally at Pathri in Parbhani district through which the expressway was to pass, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde mentioned the Shaktipeeth Expressway in terms of “development work” of his government. Earlier, while attending a program with Eknath Shinde in August 2023 in Parbhani, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis had said that the highway would change the fate of five districts of Marathwada.
Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing thousands of people at an election rally in Kolhapur on April 27, 2024, said that the NDA Union government and the governments of CM Eknath Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis, and Ajit Pawar were “working day and night for the development of Kolhapur.” He said that “the work of the Mumbai-Bengaluru Highway is going on at a fast pace,” and “a large part of Maharashtra is going to be connected with modern connectivity through the Shaktipeeth Expressway.” In the Kolhapur Parliamentary constituency, where PM Modi mentioned the Shaktipeeth Highway during the campaign, Shiv Sena candidate Sanjay Mandlik lost to Congress’ Chhatrapati Shahu Shahaji.
Farmer Ananda Bhairu Shinde in Kolhapur district said that PM Modi’s comment irked thousands of protesting farmers. “We were already protesting, and with the PM's comments, farmers decided to teach them a lesson in the election.” Across Kolhapur, Sangli, Solapur, and Latur, farmers LCW spoke to said that they considered the highway a major factor while voting during the Lok Sabha elections.
Om Prakash Patil, a farmer in Solapur district, said that he served the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as a worker for 25 years. However, in this Lok Sabha election, he voted against the party. Out of his four acres of land, two fall under the highway project.
“I was with the BJP and thought they would do something different. But by taking these lands, this BJP government is making people (farmers) daily wagers.”
The Shiv Sena Uddhav Thackeray’s candidate in Barshi Taluka got a lead with 55,000 votes here, and he won with 3.5 lakh votes, he said. “It was because of the highway issue only. The government is not giving us anything, and when we somehow survive, they are snatching our livelihood.”
During the Lok Sabha elections, along with other states, the ruling coalition witnessed a sharp decline in seats. Of the 48 seats, the INDIA bloc won 30, with Congress taking 13, Shiv Sena–Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray securing nine seats, and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)–Sharad Pawar winning eight seats. The ruling coalition of Shiv Sena, the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP, and the BJP was able to get 17 seats. Congress rebel Vishal Patil, who won as an independent from Sangli, promised to support the INDIA bloc. For the BJP, the tally came down to nine against the 23 it had secured in 2019. The Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP managed just one seat, while the Shinde faction of Shiv Sena got seven seats.
Speaking on the political repercussions of the highway project, Ravi Pandit, a senior political strategist currently working in Maharashtra, said that the project had significant political consequences, affecting both alliances. “Shaktipeeth Highway was one of the reasons for the ruling coalition's defeat in at least 12 Lok Sabha constituencies. Leaders who supported this controversial project faced losses in the general election. As we approach the upcoming Assembly election, the issue remains a major factor,” he said.
Ravi pointed out that the entire political scenario in these 12 districts, especially in the Kolhapur and Sangli regions, has been influenced by the issue. “Farmers from Kolhapur and Islampur suggest focusing on smaller roads and improving existing highways rather than developing big corridors,” he added.
Activist Girish Phonde, who has been leading the agitation against the expressway, said, “There are 72 Assembly constituencies in these 12 districts. Most of the candidates in Kolhapur district are afraid that they may face the same result as Lok Sabha, and the same story would be repeated in the rest of the 11 districts. All these Assembly seats are now vulnerable.”
Sanjay Mandlik, who lost to the Congress candidate in Kolhapur constituency, accepted a day after the election result that the issue around Shaktipeeth Highway also played a role in his defeat. A week after the results, Sanjay also submitted a memorandum to CM Eknath Shinde asking for cancellation of the proposed route for the Shaktipeeth Expressway.
Kagal MLA Hasan Mushrif, who is the Minister for Medical Education and Special Assistance, also said in June 2024 that he had brought it to the notice of the CM and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar that the highway “has to be cancelled.” Mushrif also said that there was “need for widespread mass movement on all sides to cancel this highway.”
In April, even before the general election, Congress MLC from Kolhapur Satej Patil and former MP Raju Shetty had clearly opposed the highway project. While speaking on the issue at the Legislative Council during the monsoon session in June, Satej demanded the scrapping of the project, asking who proposed this idea in the absence of any such demand.
As the protests against the highway continued across the 12 districts even after the election results, there was a clear shift in tone among the ruling coalition leadership in Maharashtra — a scenario completely opposite to what was witnessed before the election.
In June, CM Eknath announced that the “Shaktipeeth Highway connecting Nagpur and Goa will not be forced on the people and that the government was also thinking of a realignment of the route where there is opposition.”
In August, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar also assured that the Shaktipeeth highway would not be constructed in view of the opposition from farmers. “Funding for land acquisition comes from my own department, so the land acquisition will not be done unless I fund it,” he said.
The same month, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) reportedly withdrew its application for the environment clearance for the expressway.
On August 22, Eknath Shinde informed the delegation of the Shaktipeeth Highway Sangharsh Committee that “Kolhapur has been excluded from the Shaktipeeth Highway.”
In September, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar also said that he would remain opposed to the highway and that it is not in the interest of farmers.
However, Girish Phonde said that the agitation will continue unless and until the whole project is cancelled.
As the farmers’ protest against the project continues, with leaders from both the opposition and ruling coalition opposing the project, on September 5, the Mahayuti government reportedly took the decision to scrap the land acquisition process for the Shaktipeeth Highway.
Political strategist Ravi said that based on recent statements from CM Eknath Shinde and leaders like Hasan Mushrif, they are now advocating for the scrapping of the project, and their losses in the general election have clearly influenced this change.
“This shift reflects the cautious stance of the ruling coalition ahead of the state Assembly elections, particularly after their Lok Sabha defeat. The government cannot afford to ignore public opinion, especially when protests are well organised and draw media attention and support from civil society. The land rights of farmers cannot be compromised for corporate and tourism interests. Livelihood is a constitutional right and must be prioritised,” he added.
Farmers like Umesh, Shivaji, Ananda, Om, and Sushila concur that the Shaktipeeth Highway would reflect on the votes in the upcoming Assembly election in Maharashtra as well.
Srikant Chauhan, a 38-year-old farmer in Kagal Taluka of Kolhapur district, said that if the highway is not cancelled completely, he would boycott the upcoming election. He had voted against the ruling coalition candidate in the general election because of the highway issue, he said.
“From our village, nearly 400 families would be affected. Shaktipeeth is definitely a major issue in the election. If the farmers are going to lose their land, what is the meaning of voting for them then? Those who are against it will win the election,” said Pawan Edake, another farmer in Karnal village of Sangli district.
‘The development we never asked for’
Protesting farmers in Kolhapur, Sangli, Solapur, and Latur told LCW that the Shaktipeeth Expressway was a “development” they never asked for.
In Karnal village in Sangli district, 70-year-old farmer Krishna Rathu Mane said that he has been farming over the last 40 years, growing grapes, sugarcane, soybeans, etc. on three acres of land, making a yearly profit of Rs 1-2 lakh excluding all household expenses. Krishna said that though the farmers in the village hold a comparatively minimum amount of land in individual capacities, their livelihood is completely dependent on agriculture. “I will lose 1.5 acres of land... people here are surviving on agriculture. If this land is taken from us, we will be helpless,” he said.
Krishna said that the farmers never asked for another highway, as parallel and alternative highways were already available in the district. A similar argument was made by other farmers in Kolhapur, Solapur, Sangli, and even Latur district.
Krishna also questioned the government’s claim of economic benefit out of the highways. “The Nagpur-Ratnagiri highway is already in progress now, and the Pune-Banglore highway located 40 km from our village is operational. How are these roads contributing to our development? In no way. In an agrarian country, you are destroying agriculture with a highway,” he said in anguish.
Activist Girish Phonde also raised questions over the need for a new highway in the state where alternatives are available. “In the same direction, from Goa to Nagpur, a four-lane road is already there. This is from Sangli to Nagpur. There’s another highway from Ratnagiri to Nagpur under construction — its land acquisition is done and 80% work is completed. Nobody protested against this. Even farmers’ organisations like us were not opposing that road because it was needed. If two roads are available, why do we need a third one?” he asked.
Girish alleged that this was mainly because “it is the need of the contractors and government,” hinting at a nexus between the government and construction companies.
“The farmers are demanding minimum support prices (MSP) and loan waivers and raising concerns related to cooperatives. But these issues are not solved. The wave that is being created in the name of Shaktipeeth was never demanded by anyone,” he added.
Both Kolhapur and Sangli witness heavy rainfall and flooding every year. This has been a major risk factor for the farmers, who often bear the brunt of the flood. In Sangli district, amid heavy rainfall and flooding from the Krishna and Warna rivers, crops on more than 21,389 hectares of land were damaged this year, and 22,755 farmers incurred a loss of Rs 106 crore. In Kolhapur district, 32,000 hectares of agricultural land were reportedly submerged in floods, affecting more than five lakh farmers in the district.
Protesting farmers alleged that the highway will play a major role in worsening the effect of flooding in the two districts. “For the last fifteen days, this area was flooded. The expressway would be at a height of 15-20 ft. Our land is near the Krishna river, and the highway is going to be near the river. Given the scenario, the highway will contribute to the yearly flood and cause more devastation to our land and crops. Only god knows what the situation would be if it is constructed, as the flood already reaches these areas every year,” said 43-year-old Pawan Edake, a farmer in the Karnal village of Sangli district.
Another farmer, Om Prakash Patil from Hattij village Solar district, put forward a similar perspective, pointing out that “the highway would have a height of at least 15 feet, which will increase the water level and render even the remaining land to be of no use.”
“We are able to cultivate the land because we have baudi (well) on that land. If the road is constructed there, how will we actually cultivate land? Many people will lose their wells too. How will they grow grapes and other vegetables and crops?” he asked.
Dr Madhukar Bachulkar, a well-known environmentalist and researcher based in Maharashtra, agreed that highways have a role to play in worsening flood conditions. “The NH-4 that was built nearly 18 years ago is like a dam. Water doesn’t flow from this side to the other side of the highway. The flood red zone is also under encroachment. When a bridge or a road is built, they dump the deposit soil there itself. This disturbs the water flow. That’s why people are protesting,” he said.
Jammu Anand, a leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] in Maharashtra, questioned the “economic justification” of such corridors, which he says are defarming the farmers.
“The argument was made that these corridors would facilitate economic activity through the transportation of goods and carriages, as well as internal exports. But no one is questioning how much goods transportation has actually increased. These expressways are turning into death traps due to the large number of accidents that are happening. Then there is also the toll tax,” he said.
Jammu said that the whole model needed to be questioned because production wasn’t increasing nor was it happening as expected. “First, you are taking away the land from the farmers. Then, the cost of such a corridor is so high that it involves a nexus of companies, bureaucrats, and politicians, because this is all about hard cash. Third, they create townships or logistics hubs, which ultimately pave the way for non-farming activities. Poor farmers lose their livelihoods, and the compensation they receive doesn’t last forever. These models do not generate jobs,” he added.
Mahmodul Hassan is a Writing Fellow with Land Conflict Watch, an independent network of researchers conducting studies on natural resources. Views expressed here are the author’s own.