Guj farmers protest against bullet train project

Soon after farmers from South Gujarat opposed the acquisition of land for the bullet train project, farmers from Central Gujarat on Friday began a four-day networking drive against the project.

A group of farmer leaders and lawyers under the aegis of Gujarat Khedut Samaj began drive titled ‘Sampark Abhiyaan’ to meet farmers from six districts of the state who would be affected by the project.

"We are meeting farmers to spread awareness about the unfair land acquisition process of the state government. Around 3,500 families would be affected by the project," Jayesh Patel, president of Gujarat Khedut Samaj said.

The group also called for a detailed social and environmental impact assessment in the region and announcement of resettlement and rehabilitation plan before land is acquired by the government.

“We would prepare an oath for affected families of the farmers and send it to the Japanese government as well as the state government to express our objection that we would rather have land than the bullet train,” he said.

Earlier, another group of farmers from Surat filed a petition in the Gujarat High Court seeking to quash the land acquisition notification issued by the Gujarat administration for the Bullet train project. The court has asked state government for its stand on the issue before beginning detailed hearing on the case.