After much uncertainty and some controversy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet project, the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Bullet Train is gradually coming on track as farmers have agreed to take compensation for the land being acquired for the mega project. 
 
The process to acquire as many as 70 villages in Gujarat and Maharashtra is over and villagers have agreed to the government proposal to take the compensation, which will begin by end of this month. The National High Speed Rail Corporation (NHSRC) has been assigned the task to build this mega project.
 
According to NHSRC spokesman, Dhananjay Kumar, The company officials have been persuading the disgruntled farmers and now they have agreed to the government proposal. He said that there were about 300 villages in Maharashtra and Gujarat where farmers were protesting against the acquisition of their lands. 
 
But officials of NHSRC as well as state governments visited one village after another to meet their heads and convince them about their interests being preserved. Gradually, they have been persuaded to accept the compensation for the project and give up their land. Now, reportedly, they are ready to cooperate with the government.

COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

 
Notably, the date of operation for the project is slated to be August 2022. The total estimated cost of the project is Rs 1.08 trillion. While the train is designed to run at 350 kilometers per hour, it will reportedly operate at a maximum speed of 320 kilometers (200 miles per hour).
 
This Bullet Train will cut down travel time between Ahmedabad and Mumbai to about two hours from about seven hours. Although most of the corridor will be elevated, it will include a 21-kilometer tunnel with seven kilometers under the Arabian Sea.