Development Projects Continue to Face Protests in Gujarat’s Tribal Areas

Vyara/Naswadi: Large-scale development projects in tribal-dominated areas of Gujarat continue to face stiff resistance from local communities. The question is whose interest is served in these less connected pockets of Gujarat where Christian evangelism and religious conversion activities are rampant. After the protests against the Statue of Unity project, Vapi-Vyara highway project, Par-Tapi link project, now group of locals in tribal area have protested solar power plant project and proposed pumped-storage project in Tapi and Chhota Udepur districts.

In Vyara taluka’s Songadh region, the government had proposed setting up a 1500-megawatt solar power plant over vast tracts of land. When officials and police teams arrived at a village to measure land for the project, villagers gathered in large numbers to oppose the move. The protest escalated into a clash, prompting police to use lathicharge and tear gas to disperse the crowd. Stones were reportedly thrown at the police team.

In Naswadi taluka’s Amba village in Chhota Udepur, tribal villagers opposed the land acquisition process for another renewable energy project. Locals alleged that such projects are being imposed without proper consultation or consideration of their rights. Adivasi organizations held community meetings to plan further demonstrations, warning that they would not allow land, homes, and forests — considered their lifeline — to be handed over to corporations. DeshGujarat