They have been agitating for quite some time protesting against the reservation which they claim robbed them of fertile land. Their land has been put under reservation by the urban development body in its draft development plan.

The villagers are staging a fight under Surat Shahari Sankul Khedut Samaj led by Bipin Desai. They had organised a huge dharna in collectorate premises in front of SUDA's office forcing its then chairman Bhupendrasinh Solanki to come out of his fifth floor chamber. Solanki had promised them that changes sought by them in the draft development plan would be referred to the State Government.

Though the recommendations were sent on August 16, the State Government sat on them. Solanki claimed the SUDA board had accepted most of thedemands of the villagers and forwarded them to the government.

He, however, claimed that there is no justification for the proposed protest as the government is yet to publish the draft plan under Section 17 of the Gujarat Urban Development and Town Planning Act. If the published plan does not take into account their demands, they may be justified in taking to the streets, he said alleging that the protest was political.

Referring to the Gujarat High Court judgement - which has rejected the petitions filed by chairpersons of boards and corporations appointed by the Rashtriya Janata Party who challenged the BJP government's orders to resign from their posts - Solanki alleged that the proposed protest is in anticipation of announcement of the new chairman.

Chief executive officer RJ Patel said both SUDA and Surat Municipal Corporation were giving a stress on acquiring land through negotiations rather than going through the long winding acquisition proceedings. He said acquiring land through negotiationshas legal sanction.

Moreover, reservation is meant for public only. The land is reserved under any proposed development plan after seeking details of development from government bodies like Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation or Gujarat Electricity Board.

The farmers alleged that reservation had become a source of corruption. Also, because their land was proposed to go for reservation farmers were not serious about cultivation which had cost them a fortune, they claimed.