The farmers of Vansda village in Navsari district Friday held a rally and handed over a memorandum to the district administration opposing the proposed Navsari Chennai Express highway project. The resistance came only a couple of days after the district administration issued a notification stating that 496.06 hectares were to be acquired across eight villages each in Navsari and Vansda talukas and 10 villages in Chikhli taluka for the highway project. The notification had instructed affected villagers to contact the district administration within 21 days. Buy Now | Our best subscription plan now has a special price Sources said land belonging both to government and private in 26 villages of the Navsari district will be acquired for the project. The rally was led by Manish Patel, the sarpanch association leader of Vansda taluka, and Anant Patel, Congress MLA from Vansda seat. For the past 10 days, the officials of the National Highway Authority of India were carrying out measurement works of land across different villages of Vansda taluka, including Khambhaliya, Charwavi, Bhartad, Bhinar, Kureliya, Holipada, Nanibhamti and Hanumanbari, the memorandum noted. The residents of these villages rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. They are predominantly tribals and hold 1 acre to 1.5 acres of agricultural land. Currently, the farmers fear that their agricultural land would be snatched away and their livelihoods will be affected. "Highway No 56 passes through this area. So, we suggest that the existing highway should be repaired and used," the memorandum stated. The memorandum further noted that as per the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act, 1996, if agricultural land is acquired for any development purpose by the government, they should take the consent of the gram panchayat. In this case, the sarpanch of these villages were not contacted by the authorities for the measurement of land. Talking to the Indian Express, Vansda MLA Anant Patel said: “We oppose the project. The farmers of Navsari have lost their land to the bullet train project, freight corridor project, Mumbai Vadodara Express Highway project, Umargam to Ambaji Highway project. We have requested the authorities not to harm the tribals and snatch their livelihood. We will start mass awareness of farmers in the affected villages in Navsari, and will carry out a mega rally and public meeting in Navsari in the coming days."
