Narayan Rane's Farmhouse Wall Demolished To Widen Mumbai-Goa Highway

The compound wall of former Chief Minister Narayan Rane's farmhouse was demolished yesterday as part of road-widening work on the Mumbai-Goa Highway.

Officials said that the compound walls of two farmhouses, owned by Mr Rane and his wife Neelam respectively, are to be demolished to widen the highway.

The two structures, spread over 890 square metres and 1,320 square metres, are located in Tara village in Panvel taluka of Raigad district, around 40 kilometres from Mumbai.

"The government has already paid compensation of Rs 83 lakh and Rs 43 lakh. We began demolishing the two compound walls on Monday morning," a Raigad collectorate official said.

An official said that local residents had earlier complained about authorities not acquiring Mr Rane's land despite compensation being paid for it, which in turn was delaying the road work.

Around 475 kilometres of the Mumbai-Goa Highway runs through Maharashtra of which a 84 km stretch between Indapur and Panvel is under the National Highway Authority of India while the rest is maintained by the state PWD.