10,000 farmers will be affected by Centre’s ambitious Ahmedabad-Tharad highway project

The agricultural land of more than 10,000 farmers of North Gujarat will be acquired for construction of the high-speed highway from Ahmedabad to Tharad, a project announced by the Centre.

Under the Bharatmala Pariyojana, the central government has sanctioned ₹10,534 crore for the 214-km six-lane high-speed corridor, which will also connect two major corridors of the state, Amritsar-Jamnagar and the Delhi-Mumbai Express Corridor.

Land of farmers

Sources in the Secretariat said that 6 hectares of land is required for one kilometre of highway, which means about 1,300 hectares of land will be acquired from around 10,000 farmers in 214 kilometres of the corridor.

In 2022, the farmers of Banaskantha and Mehsana protested and submitted a petition to the district collector stating that this highway may affect the agricultural land and can also damage the foundation of the Sujlam Suflam Canal.

Environmental concerns

There is a possibility that the topography of the surrounding areas will change, especially as the fenced highway is to be constructed.

A total of 8.568 hectares of protected forest land will also be acquired for the highway, out of which 1.12 hectares is in Banaskantha, 1.995 hectares in Patan, 1.925 hectares in Mehsana, 2.31 hectares in Gandhinagar and 1.218 hectares in Ahmedabad district, which would require forest clearance.

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