3 min readMumbaiJun 23, 2026 02:28 AM IST
Almost a month after the MMRDA opened the floodgates of land acquisition for Third Mumbai, around 160 farmers have pledged their land of 118 hectares for the project. Largely consisting of small farmers with a few gunthas of land to their name, officials said these farmers have overwhelmingly chosen the option to get 22.5% of their land in developed areas as their means of compensation, a leap of faith in the city whose realisation is a good decade away.
The challenge in front of the MMRDA, however, looms large. The area under Third Mumbai is 323.44 sq km large, of which 104 sqkm is developable, accounting for mangroves, forest, etc.
Of this, 118 hectares – 1.18 sqkm – represents a little over a percent of the total area to be acquired. Even as consent is trickling in, opposition against the ambitious city planned in the influence area of the Navi Mumbai International Airport and the Atal Setu is growing.
“The Koli-Agri community here depends on their land for their sustenance, hence we will not give a single inch of it away,” said Rupesh Patil, general secretary of the MMRDA KSC Navnagar Virodhi Samiti. The Samiti in the past weeks has organised several meetings with the farmers of the area, and has support in former Bombay High Court judge BG Kolse Patil.
“Villagers here have had bad experiences with past land acquisition for projects by CIDCO and the NMIA, with many still having not received compensation. Our lands are like our security and our birthright. There is greenery, nature, lush fields, here and the authorities plan to grab all of this,” he said. Most of the farmers in the villages grow paddy in their fields, he said.
Patil narrated a decades long history of the farmers in the villages having fought for their rights – first against the zamindari system before independence, against the plans for an SEZ in 2006, and now this. In times of unemployment, it is this land and the farming that comes to the villagers’ rescue.
“Due to the infrastructure projects here, our land has become valuable. If we give our land away, we will lose all we have,” said Patil.
Currently, the area consists of farms of 124 villages of the Karnala Pen Chirner (KSC) belt in Raigad, as well as warehouses that have come up due to the area’s proximity to the JNPT port. Land owners have the option of taking monetary compensation, in FSI, TDR, or in 22.5% of their land area in developed land.
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A policy for the acquisition of warehouses is still in the works, said officials. The online process of submitting consent began on 27th May, with a form on the MMRDA website. The process will continue offline at a later date, with officials scrutinising documents, ensuring all the persons mentioned on the saat bara (land records) are onboard, and then sending notices for land acquisition. While villages will not be touched, compulsory land acquisition may be used in some cases as and when needed.
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