Taking objections against central Government’s ambitious bullet train project from Ahmedabad to Mumbai, farmers submitted a memorandum to Surat district collector on Monday.
The farmers belonging to Surat districts are opposing the notification for acquisition of land for the bullet train project. Ahead of the submission of memorandum with 14 objections, they staged a rally on tractors and motorcycles. As per the notification, nearly 110 hectares of land from 21 villages in the district are to be acquired for the project.
The National High Speed Rail Corporation limited, the nodal agency responsible for the facilitation of the project has also been facing resistance by farmers from Palghar in Maharashtra, on the issue of land acquisition. There have been some voices of protest against the land acquisition from other districts in South Gujarat too.
The farmers are demanding that the notification issued must be quashed as it is not consistent with the provisions of Central government’s land Acquisition Act of 2013. The process for rehabilitation and resettlement of project affected persons has not been initiated and nor a detailed environmental impact assessment of the project carried out before the notification was issued, said Jayesh Patel one of the agitating farmers adding that no environment or social impact assessment as per clause 4(1) of 2013 Act too has been carried out in this case. According to Patel the collector has also not yet declared the market rates at which land would be acquired before issuing the notification.
Patel said that the central government need to think of using extra land alongside existing Ahmedabad – Mumbai railway track. The agitating farmers are complaining that the statutory consultations with local bodies before acquiring land for public purpose have not been carried out.