Skip to main content

Gujarat farmers of historic Bardoli up in arms against government decision to urbanize cash-rich agricultural area

A sugar factory in Bardoli
Historic Bardoli, where Sardar Patel launched the famous Bardoli Satyagraha in 1928 as part of the civil disobedience movement, turning him into a top leader of the independence movement, is in the throes of a major controversy. Here, the Gujarat government has decided to implement the town planning At on 149 sq km area to further “urbanize” the small township.
Farmers of this highly fertile agricultural region of South Gujarat are up in arms following a recent state notification, which declares that the Act would be applied on their land spread over three 33 villages of Bardoli, Palsana and Mahuva talukas of Surat district. The land, it said, has been set aside for Bardoli Urban Development Authority (BUDA) for urban planning.
Once the Act is implemented in any rural area of Gujarat, the state government is well within its right to acquire up to 40 per cent of agriculture land in the name of “developing” urban infrastructure.
Opposing the move, the state's upcoming farmers' organization, the Khedut Samaj (Gujarat) has called the Gujarat government move violation of the 73rd and 74th amendment of the Constitution of India, under which the development of any area would follow the decision by an authority formed consisting of elected panchayat and municipality representatives.
A statement issued by the leaders of the farmers' body, Jayeshbhai Patel, Bhagubhai Patel, Parimalbhai Patel and Anilbhai Patel, has said, it is particularly strange that the important constitutional amendments have still not been implemented the state government, even though they were promulgated way back, in 1992. “We would launch an agitation in case the notification is not withdrawn”, they have said.
“Especially shocking is that the state government has gone ahead with its decision at a time when a writ petition is pending in the Gujarat High Court. Following the writ petition, the state government has sought time to explain its stand on the two constitutional amendments”, the statement asserts.
“There is little reason for implementing the town planning scheme for the Bardoli town”, the statement says, pointing that the town's population, 51,946 in 2001, has risen to 60,821 in 2011, a 9 per cent rise, which is “negligible”. “For whom is the town planning scheme being implemented? And why?”, the statement wonders.
Pointing out that the move comes close on the heels of the Gujarat government to implement a similar town planning scheme around Surat on a 1,024 sq km area, the statement says, with the area around Bardoli, too now added, the total area of Surat district to go for urbanization would be a whopping 27 per cent.
“South Gujarat accounts for 71 per cent of water available for irrigation in the state”, the statement says, adding, “Instead of setting up a special agricultural zone in the area because of the production of high quality sugarcane, mangoes, bananas and vegetables, the state government appears more interested in industrializing the region.”
“We do not want this area to be usurped by some neighbouring regions notorious in the country as a whole for very high levels of pollution, such as Vapi and Ankaleshwar”, the statement says, adding, “Urbanization of the region would mean end of the region's sugar factories, too, which which depend heavily on sugarcane from the region. It would hit employment badly.”

Comments

TRENDING

Dalit rights and political tensions: Why is Mevani at odds with Congress leadership?

While I have known Jignesh Mevani, one of the dozen-odd Congress MLAs from Gujarat, ever since my Gandhinagar days—when he was a young activist aligned with well-known human rights lawyer Mukul Sinha’s organisation, Jan Sangharsh Manch—he became famous following the July 2016 Una Dalit atrocity, in which seven members of a family were brutally assaulted by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes while skinning a dead cow, a traditional occupation among Dalits.  

Global NGO slams India for media clampdown during conflict, downplays Pakistan

A global civil rights group, Civicus has taken strong exception to how critical commentaries during the “recent conflict” with Pakistan were censored in India, with journalists getting “targeted”. I have no quarrel with the Civicus view, as the facts mentioned in it are all true.

Whither SCOPE? Twelve years on, Gujarat’s official English remains frozen in time

While writing my previous blog on how and why Narendra Modi went out of his way to promote English when he was Gujarat chief minister — despite opposition from people in the Sangh Parivar — I came across an interesting write-up by Aakar Patel, a well-known name among journalists and civil society circles.

Remembering Vijay Rupani: A quiet BJP leader who listened beyond party lines

Late evening on June 12, a senior sociologist of Indian origin, who lives in Vienna, asked me a pointed question: Of the 241 persons who died as a result of the devastating plane crash in Ahmedabad the other day, did I know anyone? I had no hesitation in telling her: former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, whom I described to her as "one of the more sensible persons in the BJP leadership."

Unchecked urbanisation, waste dumping: Study warns of 'invited disaster' as khadi floods threaten half of Surat

An action research report, “Invited Disaster: Khadi Floods in Surat City”, published by two civil rights groups, Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti and the People's Union for Civil Liberties, Surat, states that nearly half of Gujarat's top urban conglomerate—known for its concentration of textile and diamond polishing industries—is affected by the dumping of debris and solid waste, along with the release of treated and untreated sewage into the khadis (rivulets), thereby increasing the risk of flood disaster.

Polymath academy or echo chamber? A personal take on knowledge, control, and WhatsApp moderation

A few months back, I was made a member of a WhatsApp group called Polymath Academy. Frankly, I didn’t know what the word polymath meant until its administrator, veteran Gujarat-based sociologist Vidyut Joshi — with whom I have been interacting since the mid-1990s when he was with the Gandhi Labour Institute — told me it refers to a person with an exceptional academic record.

Two decades on, hunger still haunts Gujarat: Survey exposes stark gap behind poverty claims

A Niti Aayog report , released about two years ago, estimated that in Gujarat — which our powers-that-be have long considered a model state — 11.66% of people are "multidimensionally poor," a term referring to an index that seeks to estimate "multiple and simultaneous deprivations" at the household level across three macro categories: health, education, and living standards.

English proficiency for empowerment: Modi’s SCOPE vision contrasts Amit Shah’s remark

While Union Home Minister Amit Shah may have asserted that soon a time would come when those speaking English in the country would “feel ashamed”, it is ironic that Narendra Modi, when he was Gujarat chief minister, had launched what was called the SCOPE programme, actively involving the University of Cambridge to provide opportunities to the youth of Gujarat to "become not just job seekers but job creators (entrepreneurs)."

Whither whistleblower concerns? Air India crash: Govt of India report suggests human error

Is the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, seeking to bail out Boeing in its preliminary report released recently despite the top MNC's whistleblower concerns ? It would seem so, if the Ministry's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau's (AAIB's) preliminary findings into the catastrophic crash of Air India’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, registration VT-ANB, which went down shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad on 12 June 2025, killing all 241 on board and 19 on the ground, is any indication.