Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Project: For the country’s first Bullet Train Project, connecting the cities of Ahmedabad and Mumbai, the state of Gujarat has acquired almost 100 percent of the private land required for the high-speed train project. However, in Maharashtra, 24% of land is yet to be acquired, officials said. P Swaroop, Commissioner of Land Reforms and also Ex-officio secretary in the revenue department, Gujarat Government, was quoted in an IE report saying that over 99.4% of land needed in Gujarat for the Bullet Train project has been acquired. The process is being monitored on a daily basis, Swaroop said.
According to the Land Reforms Commissioner, out of 736 hectares of private land that was to be acquired in Gujarat, only 6.6 hectares land is pending. Those that are pending are small plots located in the districts of Surat, Navsari, Vadodara, Ahmedabad and Bharuch. The process of land acquisition will be completed within a month or so, he further added. In January 2018, the first notifications for the land acquisition for this project was issued by the revenue department. The process of land acquisition in the districts of Kheda, Anand, Valsad are 100% complete, the official stated.
As on 31 January 2022, a total of Rs 5,707 crore has been paid as compensation to 6,110 project affected persons (PAPs) in Gujarat, according to National High-Speed Rail Corporation (NHSRCL). The earlier deadline set by the Centre for completion of the land acquisition process for the project, involving 1,025 hectares of private land as well as 145 hectares of government land, was December 2018.
According to NHSRCL, the bullet train corridor’s construction in Gujarat was progressing in all the eight districts of the state which includes the construction of pillars for the elevated corridor in the districts of Navsari and Valsad, construction of Surat station as well as Sabarmati terminal hub and development of bridges over Narmada and Mahi rivers. While the land acquisition of 7.9 hectares in the UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli has also been fully completed, the acquisition of land in the state of Maharashtra has been lagging.
Of the 336 hectares of private and government land required in Maharashtra, 256 hectares has been acquired as on 31 January 2022. This includes government land of 56.13 hectares. In addition to the compensation paid in the state of Gujarat, NHSRCL has paid an amount of Rs 2,110 crore to 1,572 PAPs in Maharashtra. In suburban Mumbai, the process of land acquisition is yet to begin. As of January 31, 2022, none of the 3.92 hectares of private land as well as 0.9 hectares of government land has been acquired, NHSRCL said.
