Plea challenging land acquisition for Metro rail adjourned till Feb 2: Gujarat HC

The state government Wednesday assured the Gujarat High Court that it will not acquire land or demolish constructions meant for laying track for the proposed north-south corridor for Metro rail in the city for three months. The submission was made by Advocate General (AG) on a petition challenging the proposed land acquisition for the route.

Appearing for the state, A G Kamal Trivedi sought time from the court for filing a reply. In the meantime, he told the division bench hearing the petition that no demolition or acquisition will take place for at least three months as there were several factors yet to be cleared. He said that report on social impact assessment will take time. He also informed the court that the 21 affected people were called by the authorities, out of whom only four turned up. Following the submission, the matter was adjourned till February 2.

The court was hearing a petition jointly filed by a dozen petitioners against Metro Link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad (MEGA), challenging the proposed land acquisition for north-south corridor for Metro Rail in the city. The foundation stone laying ceremony for this corridor was held on January 17.