The ambitious Ahmedabad – Mumbai Bullet Train project is giving the farmers of Ahmedabad and adjoining districts a nightmare. The harried lot is unaware about how much land they will lose for the project, Gujarat Khedut Samaj (GKS) president Jayesh Patel said while reaching out to farmers of 192 villages which are going to be affected. The farmers have no idea how much compensation will they get in case of acquisition and scrambling for clues how to counter it, Patel said.
GKS on Friday began a Khedut Sampark Abhiyan (outreach exercise) to get an idea of what farmers feel about the project. The drive was to begin from Gandhi Ashram but was asked told to shift the venue as Danny Faure, the President of Seychelles, who is visiting the ashram on Saturday.
GKS then began the drive from Nenpur village in Kheda district. GKS also conducted meeting at Chaklasi village and will conduct another meeting at Mogur village later in the evening.
"Farmers are mostly from the Thakor community. Most are small and marginal farmers and, therefore, not sound economically. They have no idea how much land will be acquired or how much compensation they will get. They have not been given notice on acquisition of land. However, they are clear that they are not ready to part with their land," Patel told DNA.
The stand taken by these farmers is in tune with the wider sentiments of farmers opposing the Bullet Train project. "There is a general consensus that farmers are not willing to sell their land. Compensation is not an issue at all. They do not want the train to pass through their villages," said Patel.
As a part of the drive, GKS will also take the opinion of the farmers in form of an affidavit and send it to the central government as well as the government of Japan and other Japanese agencies involved in the project.
"We want to convey that this project is being carried out against the wish of the people being affected by it. No Social Impact Assessment (SIA) or Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) is being carried out. So we actually don't know what will be the impact of the project," said Patel.
HANGING IN BALANCE
- GKS began a 4-day drive across 192 villages in Gujarat to be affected by the bullet train project
- Most farmers are small and marginal and, therefore unwilling to give away the land
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