Collector urges farmers to avail land parcel premium

Nashik: District Collector Ayush Prasad on Saturday urged farmers to give their consent for the direct purchase of land required for the Nashik City Ring Road project at the earliest to ensure that landowners do not miss out on the 25% premium being currently offered by the government.Collector Prasad has been engaging with farmers through administration officials, and noted that the primary hurdle in securing consent is the lack of official land sub-division among siblings.“In some cases, there are between nine and 25 family members registered as legal heirs for a single land parcel earmarked for the ring road. As they have not officially divided the share among themselves, they are unable to give formal purchase consent, even as they are willing to hand over the land to the government,” Prasad explained.To resolve this deadlock, the administration has proposed a workaround. “We have suggested that these families open a joint bank account under names of all legal landholders, allowing them to grant immediate consent. The entire compensation amount, including the premium, can be deposited directly into that account,” the collector said.Emphasising the urgency, he added that the process needs to be completed while the government’s offer of a 25% premium over the final announced compensation is still valid.

Once this incentive window closes, the administration will be unable to extend it, and farmers will receive standard compensation rates.Another senior officer pointed out the financial benefit of this approach. “When funds are in a bank account, money remains secure and actively earns interest, whereas if it is held up in an administration or court account due to disputes, the money earns no returns.”The 66-km Ring Road project will pass through 25 villages surrounding Nashik. Totally, 365 hectares of land must be acquired for construction, currently being executed by the Maharashtra State Infrastructure Development Corporation. Through direct purchase, 56 hectares of land has been acquired with Rs363 crore as pay out. Final awards for land parcels of 20 villages have been declared, wherein land lords will get Rs1,534 crore.