Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project: More villages are now ready to give up land for India’s first Bullet Train! In the last one month, the process of land acquisition for the upcoming Mumbai – Ahmedabad Bullet Train project has gained momentum with 12 villages in the district of Palghar, which were covered under Panchayats – Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act, passing resolutions through their gram sabhas to give up land for the high speed rail corridor, according to an IE report. The Mumbai – Ahmedabad High Speed Rail, which is being executed by the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL), will pass through Mumbai suburban, Thane as well as Palghar districts.
According to Sandip Pawar, the land acquisition officer for Maharashtra’s Palghar district, as per their records, 19 villages covered under Panchayats – Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act and are tribal dominated, had earlier given their consent. Now, as many as 31 villages have agreed to give their land for the Bullet Train project. Ten villages are still opposing the high speed rail project and currently, discussions are on with them. Pawar said they will settle their claims or go for direct land purchase. Now, approximately 85 per cent of the land required for the Bullet Train project has either been acquired or is being acquired. They only need to get land from 10 villages, which falls under PESA Act, Pawar added.
In Vasai, nearly 2,000 tenements required for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project are spread over various buildings and chawls. Certain buildings will be demolished and the tenants be provided with new houses, Pawar said. In Thane, Collector Rajesh Narvekar said, in Thane and Bhiwandi talukas, about 75 acre of land was to be acquired. He said 42 acres have been received by the consent of the landowners. For the remaining land, there exist family or boundary disputes. But the acquisition amount has been deposited in court and they will take over the remaining land by September end or early October, he added. In the state of Gujarat, nearly 97 per cent of the land required for the project has been acquired, the report added.
