Tejas Navale
Pune, May 4, 2025: A routine drone survey for land acquisition related to the proposed international airport project in Purandar turned violent on Saturday, after villagers from Kumbharvalan resorted to stone pelting in protest. The unrest prompted the police to carry out a mild lathi-charge and fire tear gas shells to disperse the crowd. In this incident, several villagers and government officials have been injured. In the aftermath, District Collector Jitendra Dudi has temporarily halted all land acquisition activities in the area.
The state government had issued a notification regarding land acquisition for the international airport project in Purandar nearly a month ago. Following the directive, the Pune district administration initiated drone-based land surveys, beginning with Ekhatpur village. While the initial phase passed without major incident, the survey at Kumbharvalan took a hostile turn.
According to officials, as the survey team reached Kumbharvalan, they encountered aggressive resistance from locals who expressed strong opposition to the project. The situation quickly spiraled out of control when heated arguments escalated into stone pelting directed at the officials and survey staff.
In response, the police, who were deployed in anticipation of potential trouble, used force to control the situation. A mild lathi-charge was carried out, followed by the firing of tear gas shells to break up the crowd. Despite the attempt to contain the unrest, both villagers and members of the administrative team sustained injuries in the chaos.
Reacting to the incident, Baramati MP and NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule strongly criticized the state government for its handling of the situation. “This is painful and extremely disturbing. Citizens have been injured, and this could have been avoided if the government had approached the issue with more sensitivity. People’s emotions and concerns must be respected in such matters,” Sule said, demanding a more empathetic approach from the administration.
Pune Superintendent of Police Pankaj Deshmukh confirmed the sequence of events. “A team from the district administration was in Kumbharvalan on Saturday to carry out land measurement work. Given the sensitivity of the situation, security was already heightened. Around 3:30 pm, while the team was conducting its task, a confrontation erupted. Villagers began opposing the survey and eventually resorted to stone pelting. To avoid any major untoward incident, the police were compelled to use limited force including a mild lathi-charge and tear gas,” he stated.
