On Friday, the state informed the Gujarat High Court that it would reclaim approximately 108 hectares of gauchar (grazing) land, which had been allocated to Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd near Mundra port in Kutch district in 2005.
Gujarat: On Friday: After a 13-year, villagers have succeeded in compelling the Gujarat government to return nearly 108 hectares of pasture land that had been given to an Adani Group company.
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On Friday, the state informed the Gujarat High Court that it would reclaim approximately 108 hectares of gauchar (grazing) land, which had been allocated to Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd near Mundra port in Kutch district in 2005.
Although the state revenue department allotted 231 acres of grazing land in 2005, residents of Navinal village only discovered this in 2010 when APSEZ began fencing the gauchar land. This allocation left the villagers with just 45 acres of grazing land.
In a public interest litigation filed in the high court, the villagers argued that the land transfer was illegal since the village already faced a shortage of grazing land. They claimed the pasture was common land and a community resource.
Background
In 2014, the High Court dismissed the plea after the state government stated that the deputy collector had granted an additional 387 hectares of government land for grazing. However, this did not materialize, leading to a contempt petition.
In 2015, the State Government filed a review petition, stating that only 17 hectares were available for allocation to the panchayat. They proposed to allocate the remaining land nearly 7km away, which the villagers refused.
In April 2024, the division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi directed the additional chief secretary of the revenue department to find a solution.
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On Friday, the bureaucrat informed the bench about the state’s decision to reclaim nearly 108 hectares of gauchar land from APSEZ. The state also committed to “replenish” 129 hectares of land as gauchar and return it to the village, using some government land and the 108 hectares taken back from the Adani group firm.
The bench directed the State G108 hectares of grazing land given to Adani to be taken back: Gujarat govt tells HC108 hectares of grazing land given to Adani to be taken back: Gujarat govt tells HC108 hectares of grazing land given to Adani to be taken back: Gujarat govt tells HC108 hectares of grazing land given to Adani to be taken back: Gujarat govt tells HCovernment to implement this resolution and adjourned the matter for now.
