108 hectares of land allotted to Adani Ports will be retrieved for cattle grazing: State to Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat government on Friday told the Gujarat High Court that it will retrieve around 108 hectares of land in the Kachchh region which had been allotted to Adani Ports in 2005, and give it back to villagers for the purpose of cattle grazing. [Fakir Mamad Suleman Sameja and Ors v. State of Gujarat and Ors].The government's decision was in response to an order passed by the High Court on April 19 this year calling for necessary steps to resolve the lack of gauchar (cattle grazing) land for residents of Navinal village."The replenishment of the gauchar land in Village Navinal is the duty of the State," the Court had said in its April 19 order.On June 21, a Bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi had issued a last opportunity to the State Revenue Department and the Collector of Kachchh, to file an affidavit in compliance with the April 19 order..After hearing the matter on July 5, the Court noted in its order,"Simultaneously, to make good the deficit of Gaucher land of Village Navinal, it is resolved to resume an area of 108-22-35 hectares from respondent No.7 (Adani Ports) and the proposal in this regard had been moved before the State Government on 01.07.2024.".The State government had allocated certain portions of land to Adani Group in 2005 for its Mundra Port Special Economic Zone project. The residents of nearby Navinal came to know about the allocation in 2010 when they saw fencing around the land which they had been using for grazing cattle.In 2011, they filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the allocation, contending that such allocation has shrunk the land which was used by them for gauchar.The Court found that there were around 732 animals present, for which an area of 320 acres (around 130 hectares) would be required for their grazing. However, after allocation to the Adani Group, the remaining land available to the villagers was only about 17 hectares. The State initially proposed to grant around 387 hectares of government land and around 85 hectares of land belonging to the village panchayat for the purpose of gauchar.Thus, the Court had disposed of this matter in 2014.However, the State filed a recall application showing discrepancy in its initial offer, which led to restoration of proceedings in this matter..On July 7, the State came up with a response in compliance with the April 19 order and told the Court that around 108 hectares will now be retrieved for cattle grazing..Advocate AJ Yagnik appeared for the applicant villagers. Additional Advocate General Mitish Amin with Addtional Government Pleader Kanva M Antani appeared for the State government.Senior Advocate Mihir Thakore with Advocates Paritosh Gupta and Yash Modi (M/s Trivedi & Gupta) represented Adani Ports.Advocate Ankit Shah appeared for the Central government.Advocate Devang Vyas appeared for the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest.Advocate HS Munshaw represented the Taluk Development Officer..[Read Order]