Farmers protest against land acquisition

Vadodara: A group of farmers on Monday protested against the consultation meet organised here for acquisition of land for the Ahmedabad-Mumbai high speed rail project, alleging that it was called at a "very short notice".

The National High Speed Rail Corporation (NHSRC), the special purpose vehicle executing the bullet train project, had informed affected farmers regarding today's meeting by publishing a notice in newspapers yesterday. The notice stated that a "second stakeholder consultation" meeting would be held to facilitate the process of land acquisition, but farmers objected to it, claiming that there was, infact, no first stakeholder meeting itself.

Protesting farmers, who arrived at the venue of the consultation meeting at Mahatma Gandhi Nagar Gruh, a town hall here, demanded that NHSRC officials share with them details of the first round of the meeting.

"The agenda and purpose of the meeting, which officials are calling the second round, is not clear. It was called at a very short notice and nobody knows when the first meeting was held," said Krishna Kant, a farmers' representative.

Calling it a rushed affair, he said that since notice for the meeting was published a day earlier, it was difficult for a large section of aggrieved farmers to reach the venue. A memorandum submitted to the district collectors of Vadodara and Bharuch by protesting farmers said the intent of the notice was to "merely dispense with a formality" rather than informing affected farmers.