Villagers up in arms against road coming up on riverbed

Ahmedabad, May 10 They say the road will stop the discharge of monsoon water into the sea and cause widespread flooding
Villagers in Rampura-2 in Rajula Taluka, Amreli district are dreading the rains this time. The reason, the government has granted a strip of the seasonal Kharediya river that flows through the village, to a private company for building a road.
Villagers say the road is being built right on the riverbed. It will stop the discharge of monsoon waters into the sea and cause widespread flooding in Rampura and other neighbouring villages.
Mayabhai Kashiya from Rampura 2 says, "Heavy rains in the past couple of years flooded the village and damaged the crops. Now they are filling the Kharadiya and building a road. Where will all the water go?"
"The seven–feet–deep river bed has been levelled with clay. Soon it will be metalled and then this monsoon will be a disaster for the village," says Chintan Vyas, member of the Rampura-2 panchayat.
The road is a part of a proposed 7 km four-lane stretch that will connect the Pipavav costal area with the shipbuilding complex coming near by.
Although the strip of the river on which the road will come up is just slightly more than 500 metres, it has all the villages in the area vehemently opposing it.
Rampura with its population of more than 2500 will be the most affected, but panchayats of nearby villages like Bhirai, Lontpur, Kovaya have also passed written resolutions to oppose the road.
Villagers say as their repeated representations to various districts and taluka officials since last September have fallen on deaf ears, they have also filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) before the Gujarat High Court and challenged the grant of the river land for road construction.
In their PIL they have said that the road infringes their fundamental rights to life, personal liberty and equality. Lalitkumar Oza, deputy sarpanch of Rampura-2, who has filed the PIL says, "The Panchayat has condemned the road construction ever since the work started. It has been done in violation of all land laws."
Kharadiya is a branch of the Dhatarvadi River and is very important for the people of the area. According to Vyas, there are alternatives available instead of building a road on a natural river. "It will cause widespread water logging. Our cotton and groundnut crops will suffer badly. Even the village school is near the river," he says.
Reacting to the villagers' complaints, K C Sampat, additional district magistrate, Amreli, said, "It was government land that we have allotted for a developmental purpose that will benefit the public. Also, the allocation order clearly states that if a waterway comes in the way of the road the permission for further construction has be obtained from the department concerned. The villagers can approach the Irrigation department if they think any waterway is being blocked."
For the villagers though, the disappearing river is becoming a reality everyday and their only hope lies with the High Court
Saurav Kumar
Posted online: Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 12:52:03Updated: Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 02:19:19
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