September 21, 2018:
Farmers apprised the HC that they do not want acquisition of their land for the project.
It is reported that as many as 1,000 farmers affected by the proposed Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train submitted affidavits in the Gujarat High Court Tuesday, voicing their opposition to the project.
A DB of Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy & Justice V M Pancholi is hearing five petitions seeking to challenge the land acquisition process for the high speed rail project.
Apart from these petitioners, 1,000 farmers submitted separate affidavits in the high court to make a point that many more cultivators are affected by the Centre's ambitious Rs 1.10 lakh crore project & are opposed to it.
In the affidavit, the affected Land owner farmers from various districts of Gujarat, from where the bullet train route will pass, stated that they do not want acquisition of their land for the project.
Farmers also said that the existing land acquisition proceedings are contrary to guidelines of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) that has provided soft loan to the Indian government for the project.
The farmers alleged that the Gujarat government has diluted the Land Acquisition Act 2013 after Japan entered into a contract with India for the bullet train in September 2015, & that the state amendment itself violates JICA guidelines.
Affected farmers told the court that neither their consent was taken, nor any consultations were done with them while initiating the land acquisition.
Even the social impact assessment for rehabilitation & resettlement is also not being discussed by the government & that the agencies have undertaken "unknown proceedings" (with farmers are not aware of). The central government sought more time to file a reply.
It is pertinent to mention here that, the Supreme Court had directed the high court on August 10 to expeditiously hear matters of the bullet train-affected farmers.
Anand Yagnik, a Farmers' lawyer told reporters that the high court is unable to hear the matter as since the last five weeks, the Centre has been consistently seeking time to submit the reply.
Yagnik said "These 1,000 affected farmers will be approaching the Supreme Court with a prayer to stay the project. We will mention the matter before the apex court Wednesday for an urgent hearing."
In their petitions filed in July, the five farmers, all from Surat district, said since the project extends to more than one state (Gujarat & Maharashtra), the Centre is the "appropriate government" to acquire the land for it.
Another contention of the farmer petitioners is that the market value of the land was not revised, as required under Section 26 of the Land Acquisition Act.
The petitioners have also challenged the Gujarat Amendment Act 2016 which tweaked the 2013 law.
It gives "unbridled & unfettered powers" to the state government to exempt any project "in public interest" from the social impact assessment (SIA), they said.
The state government, in its reply, said since the width of land to be acquired for the project is just 17.5 metres, the resettlement issues are minimal.
The project was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi& his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in September last year.
The bullet train will run at a speed of 320-350 kmph, & have 12 stations across its 500 km stretch.
For the project, around 1,400 hectares of land will be acquired in Gujarat & Maharashtra, 1,120 hectares of which is privately owned. Around 6,000 land owners will have to be compensated.
