One dead as Pune villagers battle cops over airport land survey

PUNE: Landowners from seven villages in Pune's Purandar taluka clashed with baton-wielding cops on Saturday after officials tried to conduct a drone survey for a proposed international airport, leading to a woman's death from the alleged action and injuries to over two dozen people, including 18 cops.

Following the violence, the district administration indefinitely postponed Saturday the survey as the issue escalated into a political controversy. A total of 2,832 hectares is to be acquired for the airport project, expected to be completed by 2029. "The administration will decide the next move, which may involve dialogues with the landowners," land acquisition officer Varsha Landge said.

Tempers had frayed after an 87-year-old woman, Anjana Mahadev Kamthe, died on Saturday amid conflicting accounts on the exact cause of her death. Anjana was from Kumbharvalan, one of the villages where the land acquisition is planned.

"Anjana always feared she would become homeless. On Saturday, when the administration and police used force, she passed away out of shock. Many of those protesting were women and the police did not spare them," said Pandurang Sahebrao Memane of Pargaon Memane, another of the identified villages.

(Inputs from Alim Shaikh and Prasad Kulkarni)