Requesting to rejects the petitions moved by dozens of affected people whose lands are being acquired for the proposed bullet train project between Ahmedabad and Mumbai, the state government on Monday told the Gujarat High Court that it doesn’t “admit” that hundreds of farmers affected due to the project are “aggrieved and disdained by the alleged non-implementation of the legislative scheme as contained in the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.” Advertising In the affidavit, the state government has claimed that “larger portion of land owners whose lands are proposed to be acquired have offered their lands by consent.” The affidavit says that the a total of 849 affidavits have been filed by the farmers in the high court out of which 191 are the land owners who are reportedly not affected. The affidavit alleges that “affidavits of farmers produced by the petitioner does not inspire confidence and it appears that the same are placed on the record of the captioned petition only with a view to hype the whole issue.” The government has also filed a separate and detailed affidavit in response to five petitions moved by the shopkeepers of Vadodara city whose shops are proposed to be demolished for the bullet train project. They are the tenants for more than 40 years while the property belongs to the Vadodara Municipal Corporation. Advertising In their case, the state government has said that compensation is being given at higher rates from 50 per cent to 60 per cent from the existing market rates. The government affidavit filed by deputy secretary, revenue department, Keshavlal Upadhyay, stated “I reiterate that the need for conducting social impact assessment is only for the purpose of recommending such area for acquisition which would ensure — (i) minimum displacement of people, (ii) minimum disturbance to the infrastructure and ecology, and (iii) minimum adverse impact on the individual affected. In view of the project being linear in nature, all the aforesaid aspects are even otherwise taken care of. “The government justifies doing away with the social impact assessment. The affidavit also mentions that following the requirement of JICA, “an independent agency called M/S Arcadis was short listed by the corporation with the concurrence of JICA to carry out district impact survey under the supervisions of JICA, which was accordingly carried out during the period December, 2017 to July 2018, followed by submission of ‘Resettlement Action Plan-Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Railway Project’ dated 10-08-2018…’ The survey revealed that in Gujarat 8,472 houses will be affected out of a total of 13,006 while of 3,683 affected structure, 1,904 fell in Gujarat. The affidavit also gives details of schools, temples, ponds, toilets, among other structures which are going to affected in the state. The state has mentioned that the petitioners have not “prima facie case and no irreparable damage is likely to be caused to the petitioners if the project in question is allowed to be completed, which was envisaged in the year 2013…” It goes on to say that “I strongly deny that the project in question is a vanity Project and is meant only for the illusory and feel good perception among the wealthy minority as alleged or otherwise…”

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