State government and the villagers concerned are heading for a face-off over the issue of an emergency escape route at Hazira, which cuts through several villages in the coastal belt.
State government and the villagers concerned are heading for a face-off over the issue of an emergency escape route at Hazira, which cuts through several villages in the coastal belt. While the government seems to have made up its mind not to change the proposed route, the villagers are equally determined to fight for their survival.
The escape route, aimed at connecting the Hazira industries with Bhesan, will adversely impact the villagers as many of them will end up losing their houses and/or lands if it is built according to the current proposal. However, following a meeting by the chief secretary, the Gujarat Industrial Development Board (GIDB) wrote to various officials, stating that the alignment prepared by the road and building (R&B) department for the escape route be considered final.
The letter, dated April 16, 2009, and signed by GIDB CEO, A K Sharma, was obtained by the villagers under the RTI Act. The R&B department has, meanwhile, slightly modified the route of the proposed escape route. The villagers of Rajgari village will not lose land or houses, while the loss will be limited in Suvali and Junagam.
However, there is no relief for the residents of Mora, Bhatlai and Damka villages. Hundreds of residents of Barbodhan, Malgama and Bhesan villages, which are on the other side of the escape route, will also be affected. “Our villages will be finished if the escape route plan is not changed. The state government should consider the interest of thousands of villagers instead of acting under the pressure of industries,” Pravin B Patel, president of Hazira Kantha Vistaar Sahakari Mandali, said.
Local residents complained that the proposed escape route was changed twice in the past at the behest of certain industries in Hazira, but the state government was completely ignoring the well-being of thousands of villagers. The government is playing in the hands of certain industries, said Vijay Modi, sarpanch of Mora village, which will be the worst-affected if the escape route is built according to the current plan.
Villagers said that cost of the project, which is likely to be to the tune of hundreds of crores, will be borne by corporate houses, which is why the government was dancing to their tune. Last week, villagers met state R&B minister Anandi Patel and other ministers who assured to look into the matter. However, villagers are gearing up for a fight in case the government does not change its stance.
Pravin Patel, sarpanch of Bhatlai village, which faces extinction because of the escape route, said they will vehemently oppose any efforts to take away their homes and land for the project. “We have suggested various alternate routes for the escape route. These alternate routes do not pass through any coastal village, and pass mostly through barren government land.
Two of the alternate routes suggested by us will be even smaller in length than the current proposal, which will reduce project cost too,” Patel said According to Patel, the third alternate route suggested by them is parallel to the seacoast. “Developing the escape route parallel to the sea coast, will have multiple benefits. Apart from providing an emergency exit route, and that too without harming villages, it can be used for patrolling along the sea coast. It will protect industries from the sea and also prevent salination of land,” Balwant Patel, a resident of Bhatlai village, said.
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