4,000 villagers rally against govt

DI L I P PATEL
Around 4,000 villagers of Sanand taluka, including some 700 women and 200 children, took out a rally from the ST depot in Sanand town to the mamlatdar’s office on Monday against the state government’s decision to acquire their land for setting up an industrial park. The government has issued a notification to acquire around 7,000 acres of land near the Nano plant for setting up a Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation. Besides people from the seven villages that have been served government notices, people from three other villages — Motipura, Jholapura and Rasulpura — also joined in the rally, fearing their land too might be taken over by the GIDC. The villagers presented a memorandum, signed by around 100 people, to the mamlatdar. and later staged a dharna outside his office. Eyewitnesses told AM that the rallyists shouted slogans of ‘Jaan denge, par zameen nahi denge’ (We will give up our lives, but not our land), GIDC hatao, zameen bachao, (Remove GIDC, save our land). One of the leaders, Kamsibhai Patel, said, “People of all seven villages are furious, so all of us decided to take out a rally. We intend to adopt an even more aggressive attitude. “The mamlatdar has given us seven days to look into the matter. If we don’t get a proper reply after this period, we will intensify our agitation.” Virjibhai Patel, a farmer, said, “We had informed people only around 12 noon that we were going to take out a rally. Yet, around 4,000 people turned up. We will pass resolutions in every village against giving any land to the government.” Most farmers believe the government should choose non-agricultural, barren land rather than fertile land. And Ahmedabad has thousands of hectares of such arid land, they said. Radhaben Patel, a widow who was part of the rally, said, “The four villages, Hirapur, Kuwar, Gokadpur and Sinyavad, have around 8,000 cows. Women in these villages earn their livelihood by rearing them. We will not leave this land at any cost. If need be, we will gherao government offices. If we don’t save our land, our next generation won’t forgive us.” Sanand Mamlatdar Sudhir Patel said, “I’ve received a memorandum from the farmers which I will pass it on to the collector. After listening to their grievances, a decision on acquiring