Curation Team
KOLHAPUR: Public representatives met with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde, and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar in Mumbai on Tuesday.
The discussion centred on the Kolhapur Municipal Corporation‘s recent proposal to merge 18 adjacent villages and two Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporations (MIDC) into the city limits. Following the meeting, Fadnavis instructed government officials to begin the necessary procedures for the merger.
Minister Prakash Abitkar, minister Hasan Mushrif, state planning commission head Rajesh Kshirsagar, MP Dhairyasheel Mane, former MP Sanjay Mandlik, former corporator Satyajit Kadam, and other administrative officials were also present.
Kshirsagar articulated the rationale behind the merger, stating, “For the development of any district, the expansion of municipal limits is required. The area of Kolhapur municipal limits has not increased for over 50 years, due to which its growth remained stagnant.”
He described the meeting as “positive”, confirming Fadnavis’s directive to initiate the merger process. He indicated that the merger could be declared either immediately or after the municipal corporation elections, assuring that “in both cases, no injustice will occur to the villagers living in fringe villages”.
Kshirsagar added that the issue transcends the ego of the pro-merger or anti-merger action committees, emphasizing its importance for the overall development of Kolhapur . Meanwhile, 20 villages observed a bandh on Tuesday — a protest organized by the Anti-Merger Action Committee.
The bandh received a mixed response, with some villages fully adhering to the shutdown while others saw shops open to approximately 50 per cent capacity.
