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Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Farmers in Maharashtra whose land is sought to be acquired by the state government for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train project against their wishes have announced that they would approach the Japanese government to stop the move.
With support from the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), an organisation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), farmers in 73 villages spread across Palghar, Vasai, Talasari, Dahanu, Wada and Shahapur said they would approach the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) which is funding the project.
“The government is yet to announce a rehabilitation policy for the adivasis who are living in land earmarked for the project,” says a local activist Shiva Kamble. He added that India’s agreement with Japan prohibits acquisition of land for the Bullet Train project without the consent of the land owners.
Last year, farmers from Gujarat under the banner of the Gujarat Khedut Samaj got officials from JICA to visit them and listen to their grievances over the land acquisition process. Land owners in Maharashtra feel that the farmers of Gujarat would get a better deal from the neighbouring state government on the intervention of JICA officials.
The Maharashtra government’s decision to acquire the land for the project in public interest comes after its offer to pay land owners four times the market price was rejected by them. Owners of more than 800 commercial and residential properties, including multi-storeyed buildings, are sought to be paid twice the market price. However, the move has drawn opposition from the local people who accuse government officials of undervaluing the original value of their properties.
State government sources say villagers in around 61 of the 108 villages in Maharashtra through which the Bullet Train is to pass have agreed to surrender their land for the project. At other places, angry villagers have even refused officials to conduct surveys on their land, according to officials.
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