In The Scorching Heat Of Maharashtra, Farmers Dig In To Stop Shaktipeeth Highway

Under a merciless April sun that has turned fields to dust and tempers to fire, hundreds of farmers gathered near Wedhapur in Solapur district today, vowing to physically block the construction of the controversial Nagpur-Goa Shaktipeeth Expressway. As temperatures soared past 40 degrees Celsius, so did the political heat, marking a decisive escalation in farmer resistance against Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's flagship project.

The farmers, rallied by the Agriculture Rescue Struggle Committee and the Anti-Shaktipeeth Action Committee, have drawn a clear red line: no surveys on their fertile lands. Their message, chanted in unison under the harsh sun, was unequivocal: "Unnecessary Shaktipeeth Highway will be cancelled".

Two-time former MP and Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana leader Raju Shetti has emerged as the farmer movement's most formidable voice. Days before the Wedhapur protest, Shetti addressed a massive public rally at the Rajarambapu auditorium in Ishwarpur taluka, where he launched a blistering attack on the state government.

"Farmers from all 13 districts through which this highway is proposed are standing shoulder to shoulder in opposition," Shetti declared to roaring applause. "The protest is so intense that Devendra Fadnavis's so-called dream project will remain exactly that, a daydream. It will definitely be canceled."

Shetti went further, alleging that the Rs 1 lakh crore highway is being pushed despite being both unnecessary and exorbitantly priced. He claimed the project is designed to channel financial benefits worth Rs 70,000 crore to a select few with political connections, an accusation the government has dismissed as baseless.

Walwa Taluka The Backbone

The epicentre of this resistance lies in Walwa taluka of Sangli district, a region that has scripted one of Maharashtra's most remarkable agricultural turnaround stories. Once synonymous with drought and despair, Walwa's revolutionary farmers transformed their fate over four decades. Through innovative water supply schemes executed via sugar factories and cooperative organisations, they brought thousands of acres under irrigation, turning barren land into a green revolution.

This hard-won prosperity now hangs in the balance. At the Ishwarpur public meeting, NCP(SP) MLA Jayant Patil laid out the grave environmental risks the highway poses. "If the Shaktipeeth Expressway passes through Walwa, embankments of 40 to 60 feet will have to be built along the Krishna and Warna rivers," Patil warned. "This will not only pose a serious flood risk but could also render vast stretches of our most fertile farmland alkaline and uncultivable."

Farmers from Masuchiwadi on the Krishna's banks to Chikurde on the Warna river have unanimously rejected the project, forging what they call a Vajramut, an unbreakable collective resolve against the highway.

The Project: Rising Costs and Changing Routes

The Shaktipeeth Expressway has undergone significant metamorphosis since its inception. Originally envisioned as an 802-km corridor from Nagpur to Goa at an estimated cost of Rs 80,000 crore, the project was revised in March 2026. The Maharashtra government approved a new alignment extending the highway by 54 km to 856.765 km, pushing the total project cost to a staggering Rs 1 lakh crore.

The revised route now cuts through 13 districts and 40 talukas: Wardha, Yavatmal, Nanded, Hingoli, Parbhani, Beed, Latur, Dharashiv, Solapur, Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur, and Sindhudurg. The expressway aims to connect 21 religious sites, including major Shaktipeeths at Mahur, Tuljapur, and Kolhapur.

Interestingly, the alignment change was itself a product of resistance. Earlier protests in Kolhapur district forced the cancellation of land acquisition notifications in October 2024, particularly in areas where farmers had turned the project into a decisive electoral issue during the last assembly polls. Now, the same script is unfolding in Solapur.

The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), the implementing agency, has defended the project as a transformative infrastructure corridor. Officials maintain the Shaktipeeth Expressway will slash travel time between Nagpur and Goa from 18 hours to approximately eight hours, while boosting tourism to religious sites and spurring economic development across underdeveloped regions.

The government has argued that the revised alignment addresses many farmer concerns by bypassing the most contentious areas in Kolhapur district. Chief Minister Fadnavis has repeatedly emphasised the project's long-term benefits, calling it a "development lifeline" for eastern and western Maharashtra.

As the afternoon sun beat down on the protesters, their warning to the government remained unambiguous: survey teams will not be allowed to enter their lands. No bulldozer will touch their orchards. And if the state persists, they are prepared for a sustained agitation that could bring the Rs 1 lakh crore dream project to a grinding halt.