Farm labourer ends life

Nagpur, July 12 (UNI) A farm labourer, living in an area on the outskirts of the city where residents are agitating for a higher price for their land that is being acquired for the proposed Multi-Modal International Air Passenger and Cargo Hub at Nagpur (MIHAN), committed suicide by hanging himself in his house today.

According to the police, the labourer, identified as Laxman Kanhoji Wayre (50), hung himself with a rope in his house in Shivangaon area some time in the early hours this morning. Wayre had left no suicide note behind.

Ramesh Surankar, a resident of the area and among those leading the agitation, said Wayre had been unemployed for several years since farming had come to a stop after the acquisition notification was issued. Wayre, his wife, two daughters and a son were doing odd jobs to make ends meet, Mr Surankar said.

The residents of Shivangaon are demanding that they be paid at prevailing market rates for their land. The government has offered them a rate of just over Rs 2 lakh per acre, but the residents are not happy, as the price of land in the vicinity has skyrocketed since the MIHAN project was launched. In one recent deal, a piece of land about 5 kilometres from Shivangaon fetched a whopping Rs 2.55 crore per acre. The residents are also demanding that the displaced families be rehabilitated and that one member from each of them be given a government job.

Last week, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Maharashtra unit President Nitin Gadkari had assured that he would request Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh to meet representatives of Shivangaon residents on July 15 to discuss the issue. Mr Gadkari had also said the opposition would stall both the Houses of the Legislature to press the demand during the Monsoon Session beginning on July 16.

Several residents of the area including women, have tonsured their heads in support of their demand. The residents have also launched a chain hunger strike. Recently, Shiv Sena MP Prakash Jadhav tonsured his head to express solidarity with the residents. UNI