Pargaon villagers oppose Purandar airport land acquisition

Residents of Pargaon village in Maharashtra are organizing against the proposed Purandar International Airport project. This comes after the state government announced plans to acquire land from seven villages, with Pargaon providing the largest amount. A special village meeting, called a gram sabha, is set for March 21. During this meeting, villagers will discuss their opposition to the airport project. Pargaon's sarpanch and gramsevak issued a notice inviting community members to attend. The meeting will take place at 9 AM at a local hall. The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) is managing the land acquisition process. They plan to acquire a total of 2,753 hectares across the seven villages. Pargaon alone accounts for over 1,000 hectares, while some other villages have much smaller land areas involved. The government aims to finalize a detailed project report by September 2025 and wants the airport to be operational by March 2029. The project was first proposed in 2018 but faced delays and rising land prices. Views among villagers vary. Some residents are willing to sell their land for good prices, but others are against the acquisition. "We will collectively decide our next steps after discussing in the gram sabha," said Pandurang Memane, a local resident.