Gujarat villagers protest land allocation to SEZ

Bhuj, Gujarat, Apr 11 (UNI) Villagers from Jarpara in Kutch district today observed a ''bandh'' and took out a rally to Mamlatdar Office at Mundra to protest against the allocation of pasture land by the village panchayat for a Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

The villagers, in a memorandum to the Mamlatdar, said the transfer of 250 hactares of pasture land to SEZ by the gram panchayat was unconstitutional as the decision was taken without calling a gram sabha.

They said the land could not be transferred to the SEZ as the village had less pasture land than the norms set up for allocating to SEZ by the Central Government.

The 250 hectares of land was handed over by the village panchayat to the SEZ on March 16.

The villagers have threatened to intensify the agitation if the land allocation decision was not retracted.

UNI XR-MP MAZ PK AS2044