Ahmedabad: Nearly 1,000 farmers submitted affidavits in the Gujarat High Court on Tuesday to voice their opposition to the proposed Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy and Justice V M Pancholi is hearing five petitions which challenge the land acquisition process involved in the high-speed rail project.

About 1,000 farmers submitted their affidavits separately besides these petitioners in the high court to bring to the fore that many such farmers are affected by the move of the Centre to build an Rs. 1.10 lakh crore project.

The farmers, who belong to various districts of Gujarat, had in their affidavits stated that they do not want acquisition of their land for the project as the proposed bullet train route falls there.

They further noted that the proceedings to acquire land are opposite to the guidelines of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) that has extended a soft loan to the government of India especially for the project.

According to the allegations made by the farmers, the Gujarat government diluted the Land Acquisition Act 2013 after Japan entered into a contract with India to build the bullet train in September 2015. And the state amendment itself is in violation of the JICA guidelines.

They said before the court that no kind of consent or consultations were done with them before initiating the land acquisition.

The central government requested for more time for a reply in this regard during the hearing.

According to the farmer’s lawyer Anand Yagnik, while speaking to the reporters, the high court is unable to hear the matter since the last five weeks, and the Centre has been asking time to reply for the matter.

“These 1,000 affected farmers will be approaching the Supreme Court with a prayer to stay the project. We will mention the matter before the apex court Wednesday for an urgent hearing,” Yagnik said.

The five farmers, in their petitions, said that the project is not limited to one state, but extends to Gujarat and Maharashtra, the Centre is the appropriate government to start land acquisition in this regard.

Gujarat Amendment Act 2016 was also challenged by the petitioners, which tweaked the 2013 law.

They said that the Act allows “unbridled and unfettered powers” to the government ruling in the state to exempt any kind of project “in public interest” from the social impact assessment (SIA).

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