Some villagers along Maharashtra’s border districts touching five other states have expressed their wish to merge with the neighbouring states since they grieve that their demands for basic amenities like health, education, water supply and good roads have been ignored for the past seven decades by successive governments. The issue is assuming political hues since charges and counter-charges are flung fast and thick.
The villages are situated along Maharashtra’s borders with Karnataka, Telangana and Gujarat. The hapless districts in Maharashtra are Sangli, Solapur, Nasik, Gadchiroli and Chandrapur. The state government has repeatedly announced its resolve to redress the genuine grievances of the villagers but the people suffering this neglect have complained that such promises have been made numerous times in the past though no concrete measures have been implemented so far.
The issue came to the fore suddenly when talking about Maharashtra’s claim over Belgaum and some villages in the border areas which have Marathi-speaking population, Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai disclosed that many villages in Sangli district’s Jath tehsil had passed a resolution demanding their inclusion in Karnataka as their problems were not solved despite repeated demands with the Maharashtra government. .
The issue became political, sentimental and developmental as a dozen villages in Akkalkot tehsil of Solapur district petitioned with the district administration either to provide them with basic amenities on a war footing or permit them to merge with Karnataka. Bommai aggravated the situation by staking claim on Solapur and Pandharpur towns, stoking regional tension.
The merger demand has been voiced at a time when the chronic border dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka has come at the centre-stage. As both states claim the disputed border areas to be their territory, the Centre has intervened to calm the atmosphere.
Akkalkot tehsil along the border with Karnataka is perhaps the most sensitive spot for both states. Kallakarjal, Kegaon, Shegaon, Korsegaon, Aalge, Dharsang, Andewadi (Khurd), Hilli, Devikavathe, Mangrul and Shawal villages in the tehsil decided to submit their demands in writing to the Solapur district collector. The villagers have issued an ultimatum to the district administration. The villager rued the fact that there were no good roads, power and water supply in their areas.
In absence of proper roads accessing the villages, medical staff at the primary health centre cannot reach the villages in times of need. Children have hardly any access to education and there is no employment generation due to lack of connectivity. In view of this, a resolution was adopted in the gram panchayat meeting to submit the petition to the district administration to list the demands.
The petition pointed how the adjoining areas in Karnataka have had adequate water supply, good road connectivity and enough power supply. This prompted them to compare their situation with the Karnataka villages just a few kilometres away.
Water is released during the monsoon from Ujani dam near Solapur. As there is no proper irrigation management, the sugarcane cultivation and residences suffer from flooding. On the other hand, in summer season, no water is available in these distressed areas. Repeatedly begging before politicians and officials has had no effect. Similarly, the school facilities were deplorable and the healthcare system was dismal.
The villagers hurry to clarify that they do not have any special affection for Karnataka but have been compelled to speak out against the injustice. It has been 75 years but no relief has come, they point out. Had the Maharashtra government provided basic facilities, no village would not have demanded merger with Karnataka, they helplessly argue.
The case with select villages along the border in other districts is not any different. Gujarat is cited as a developed state by them. Telangana, too, is felt to have been more concerned about the villages, claimed by both states.
However, the sudden eruption of the demands is suspected to have been prompted by party politics. “Intelligence reports suggest that the demands made by some villages along the border for merger with neighbours is part of a design and office-bearers of certain political parties are involved,” deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis told the media in Nagpur.
Also holding the home portfolio, Fadnavis said it is made to appear as if the border dispute has arisen only now that the Shinde-led government has come to power. “According to the intelligence reports, the government has all the information of the office-bearers of the political party who have incited this situation,” Fadnavis has said. He has warned that the government will present this information to the legislature at an appropriate time.
Fadnavis lamented the differences in Maharashtra over such sensitive issues. “On the one hand, all parties come together and raise the issue of the border dispute in other states. But in Maharashtra, office-bearers of some political parties are doing sordid politics by holding meetings and floating proposals that these villages wish to merge with other states,” he said. If opposition parties have not realised this, the government will send the names of office-bearers to him,” Fadnavis hinted.
Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, Ajit Pawar, raised the matter by saying that the merger of 865 villages having Marathi-speaking population in Bidar, Nipani and Belgavi districts in Karnataka was still pending. Even so, many villages from border areas in Maharashtra have been demanding to merge with neighbouring states. “Such a situation has never arisen in the last 62 years.
Chief minister Eknath Shinde thanked Union home minister Amit Shah for holding a meeting earlier this month to resolve the Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute.
Shinde said the various schemes drawn up for the border villages concerned were stopped for some time during the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) rule but were restarted by his government. Expansion of the Mhaisal irrigation scheme was approved with an estimated outlay of Rs 2000 crore. This will supply water available for irrigation to 48 villages in Jath tehsil, he was confident. The chief minister also dealt with the agrarian crisis in the state. He said around Rs 9000 crore was earmarked for compensation towards the losses due to unseasonal and excessive rains suffered by the farmers.
But the villagers are hardly impressed by such declarations. For instance, several villages in north Maharashtra’s Nasik district demanded that they should be merged with Gujarat because they are tired of the apathy and lack of development. The villagers claim that this does not have anything to do with politics. Residents of Subhash Nagar, Dolare, Alangun and Kathipada villages have come together for this demand and there are many others eager to join. Gujarat’s Dharampur taluka is hardly a dozen km away and Wasda is only ten km away. The villagers frequently go there and see the difference in development. Villagers in Dhadgaon and Navapur in Nandurbar district, too, have endorsed the demand for inclusion in Gujarat.
Shinde and Fadnavis will have to expedite the development works in border areas in response to the legitimate aspirations of the villagers. Just dubbing the crisis as a political creation will not suffice though trouble-makers, too, would have to be dealt with due severity to prevent further such outbursts.
A Column By
Dilip Chaware – Senior Editor
A media professional for 43 years, with extensive experience of writing on
a variety of subjects; he is also a documentary producer and book author.
