Surat farmers object to land acquisition for bullet train

Over 200 farmers from across 15 villages around Surat staged a protest against the notification issued by the Centre for acquiring land for the bullet train project between Ahmedabad and Mumbai.

The farmers gave their objections in writing to the Surat district collectorate.

The farmers came in tractors and motorcycles to list their 14 objections to the notifications.

"It was not a protest. A notification for acquisition of land in Surat had asked for objections from the public and we had gone there to submit our objections," said Jayesh Patel, president Khedut Samaj Gujarat.

He said the land acquisition is not as per the Land Acquisition Act of 2013 and that no environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the said land had been done. "Usually an EIA is done before such a notification is issued but in this case, this was not done," said Patel.

He added that when land is to acquire for the public purpose the government needs to consult with local organizations and agencies.

"But, this was not done in this case. Moreover, for such project, a social impact assessment also needs to be done which has not been done in the case of this project and this is a violation of the rules," said Patel.

Moreover, those will who will be affected the need to be told about the rehabilitation package, this too has not been done, claimed Patel.

Around 140 hectare of land from 21 villages in and around Surat is likely to be acquired for the project.

Farmers in Valsad are also opposing the land acquisition on the grounds that a substantial part of the land is fertile and home to several orchards.