Mumbai: The issue of development versus the environment is heating up in the lead-up to the Assembly elections next month.
Farmers, miffed over the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train coming to the Palghar-Dahanu belt, will field Samir Vartak, an environmental activist spearheading the protest against the bullet train, as an independent candidate from the Vasai-Virar Vidhan Sabha constituency.
Since the past two years, there have been several demonstrations in Palghar and Dahanu, where thousands of farmers and tribals gathered to protest the land acquisition by the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) for the bullet train project.
Palghar has six constituencies with around 60 per cent tribal population. Representing the Bhoomiputra Bachao Andolan — a farmers’ and activists’ body against the bullet train project — the candidates will be raising issues like lack of welfare schemes for tribals, improper irrigation provisions for farm lands and the draft development plan by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which has been vehemently opposed by environmentalists.
The issue of lack of proper local train services to the distant western suburban areas will also be highlighted.
