Bullet train: Palghar villagers threaten protest

PALGHAR: On Sunday, political parties like the Shiv Sena, Congress, Rashtravadi Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and the Communist Party of India congregated at Palghar’s Lions Club maidan along with Maharashtra Rajya Kisan Sabha, to oppose the bullet train project along with 70 villagers at Palghar. On the occasion, Shiv Sena’s leader Dr Neelam Gorhe supported the cause of villagers and who said that the Sena stood by their protest and will continue to support the villagers in the future too. The villagers have been raising quite a few concerns ever since the project was announced. From insufficient compensation to failure to communicate with the tribal leaders when needed, it has all contributed to the project witnessing countless protests. Nearly 70 tribal villages had even refused to give land for the project as the proposed rail corridor passes through these villages. However, National High Speed Railway Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) stated that the protests would not delay the project. "As many as 3,000 people are going to be affected due to the construction of bullet trainin Palghar. As of now, we have sent them a draft proposal or Namuna 1, indicates the estimated land parcel that may be required for the project. This estimation was done on the basis of a survey carried out using lidar, a detection system that works on principle of radar," Dhananjay Kumar, NHSRCL spokesperson said.