Land survey for bullet train project carried out amid protests

Amid protests, officials on Wednesday completed survey in three out of five villages in Gujarat's Navsari district where locals are opposing acquisition of land for the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project.

Local farmers alleged that the survey was carried out ahead of the schedule intimated to them.

In view of protests, land measurement was carried out amid police protection, officials said.

Last year, officials had to stop land survey in these five villages due to stiff opposition to the acquisition process while completing it in other 23 villages in the district.

"Officials came back to conduct survey but refused to speak about compensation package and other things. This bullying by the government will not be tolerated," said a farmer whose land is to be acquired for the project.

"They are threatening to jail us if we opposed survey work. We will give our life but not our land," he added.

Farmer leader Siddharth Desai said officials carried out the survey before scheduled dates to avoid protests.

"The government had fixed Thursday for conducting measurements in Amadpor village as per the official letter sent to the farmers, but completed the job a day in advance. This gave farmers no time to protest," he alleged.

District Prant officer Tushar Jani said survey was completed in three out of the five villages.

"Farmers are opposing, but their grievances are under consideration, and we hope for a positive resolution," he said.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in the Budget speech on Saturday that the bullet train project will be actively pursued.

The foundation stone for the ambitious Rs 1.08 lakh crore project was laid on September 14, 2017, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe.