Kota: Ahead of the inauguration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream Bharatmala project, the farmers of Rajasthan's Kota expressed displeasure and staged a protest against the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway. The farmers claimed that they listed their problems to the Project Director of the National Highway Authority of India, the District Collector, the Divisional Commissioner, senior officers of NHAI and Road and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, but the issue is still not resolved.
The farmers said that due to this eight-lane expressway, they face difficulties reaching their fields while in thaimilar situation, relief has been provided to the farmers of three districts, Mandsaur, Jhabua and Ratlam of Madhya Pradesh. Jagdish Sharma, Kalmanda, the state head of the Farmers Union, said that since the time the highway was built, the road to the fields has been closed. He said, "We spoke to the Divisional Commissioner and Minister Nitin Gadkari regarding this problem, but in vain."
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A farmer, Ghasilal, a resident of Jhotalli village of Kota, said that all the old routes to their fields have been blocked by the National Highway Authority and they have prepared an underpass for the villagers, but the water from the expressway flows on these underpasses. He further said that there is only one route to his village, Sheopura, Mandavara villages and due to water-logging for the last two years, the villagers face difficulty in commuting. Farmer Laturlal said, "I have to go to the field at night for watering and guarding, earlier we used to go by motorcycle, but now there is no way even to go on foot. One has to cross the highway to rewater loggings, which takes a lot of time."
