The farmers claim that the expansion will not help the development of the district, but on the contrary, will lead to their impoverishment: For expansion of an existing airstrip into a fully-fledged airport next to the city of Karad, fertile and irrigated farm-land will be acquired. Vinayak Shinde, the spokesperson of the affected villagers and activist of Shramik Mukti Dal, says that 1,335.46 hectares of farmland cultivated with an irrigation-system are under threat. Critical infrastructure for the irrigation system is located on the land to be acquired. Shinde said: Residents of the villages of Warunji, Kese, Munde, Padali, Gote and Supane have worked to develop this irrigation scheme for more than 50 years, explains Shinde, saying “If the land acquisition is carried out this will be a huge loss for about 25,000 people who depend upon this agriculture[1].

On 30th August, after the villagers had maintained their protest for 33 days, they were joined by a member of the Bhairavanathi cooperative irrigation project[3]. The villagers also staged a protest at the airport gate. They demanded information about airport operations including the number of planes and helicopters using the facility since 2011 and whether nearby hills would pose risks to aircraft safety if the expansion goes ahead[4].

Already in 2011, Bharat Patankar, President of Shramik Mukti Dal pointed out, that the expansion of the Karad Airport violates the national resettlement and rehabilitation policy, which prohibits the acquisition of irrigated farmland. Karad Airport lies just 2 kilometres to the west of the city of Karad. According to the Airport Authority of India, developments of airports should be at least 15 km away from a city. According to affected farmers, local authorities are showing unnecessary urgency in land acquisition. The final notice of land acquisition was given without former notices. In 2016, for award of land acquisition from the 1,100 affected by the project, local authorities took signatures of three members of the same family[1].

Announcement of plans for Karad Airport expansion in 2011 triggered a major protest, on 6th July about 1,000 farmers protested against land acquisition, marching from the airport to the sub-divisional office (SDO) where they submitted a memorandum and demanded a meeting with then Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Prithviraj Chavan, to discuss their grievances. The demonstrators were accompanied by farmer leader Ashok Thorat who said: “No one from Karad has ever demanded expansion of the airport. There are no industries in Karad, so commercial air services were never introduced on this airport since inception.” He said Karad Airport was only used “once in a while”, by ministers and other public representatives [5].

In July 2012 The Hindu reported that more than 4,000 farmers from the region were opposing Karad Airport expansion. Farmers warned of agitation and Ashok Thorat said “the farmers are serious about not giving up the land”[6].  In December 2012 Karad Airport expansion was raised in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and a protest was held in front of the airport [7].

Karad Airport also lies close to the Munde electricity station in Karad, which is the main station of electricity transfer from the Koyna hydroelectricity project. Affected villagers are concerned that tall electricity towers surrounding the area of the planned expansion could be a risk factor for aviation safety. Affected villagers have also challenged the economic viability of the airport expansion. A Government of Maharashtra report raised concerns regarding commercial viability due to Karad Airport’s close proximity to the existing Kolhapur Airport, a mere 70 kilometres away. Also, the Maharashtra Airport Development Company, established by the Maharashtra state government to construct several airports, proposed withdrawal of the Karad Airport expansion project because of doubts over its commercial viability [1]. 

On 15th September 2019, after 50 days and nights, farmers ended their sit-in protest again Karad Airport expansion. The farmers maintain that the airport expansion project is illegal [8]. 

Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Prithviraj Chavan, proposed expansion of Karad Airport in 2011 and pressured local authorities to implement the plans.[1] The Satara District administration initiated land measurement for the airport expansion on 25th June 2011.[5] In March 2012 the State budget allocated funds for six airport projects, including expansion of Karad Airport into a fully-fledged facility.[6] Approval of Karad Airport expansion, in 2012, mentioned increasing ‘eco-tourism’ in the Konya area including Konya Wildlife Sanctuary.[11]