Farmers are bothered by the plan for a high-speed line from Prague to Dresden. The building will destroy our land, they warn
Farmers criticize the plan for a high-speed line from Prague to Dresden. The track concerns growers who produce hops and animals, said representatives of the Agrarian Chamber of the Czech Republic. A spokesman for the Ministry of Transport, František Jemelka, said on Monday, similarly to last week, that the quality of agricultural land concerns the price when buying land.
According to the Association of Hop Growers of the Czech Republic, on the one hand, the state is trying to register the hop landscape in the UNESCO World Heritage List, on the other hand, it wants an equally valuable area with a long growing history.
According to the president of the chamber, Jan Doležal, farmers should be more involved in deciding on similar projects. The area is located in the Elbe lowlands, where, according to the chamber, the Czech Republic is the most fertile soil.
“We understand that due to the pandemic, communication is more difficult than before, but given the degree of intervention in the economy and the landscape, we consider the involvement of all actors in the debate to be essential,” he said.
According to the chamber, the track has to Dresden lead north from Roudnice na Labem along the right bank of the river, between the villages of Lounky and Chodouny and further Polepy and Okna. “In the case of the implementation of this route, agricultural activity would be made impossible and even the uncaptured part of the land would be devalued.
According to the chairman of the association of hop growers Luboš Hejda, part of the affected area is located under the irrigation system, the construction would most likely disrupt its functionality. According to Ondra, alternative options are to run the line on the left bank of the Elbe, which, according to him, is also a variant that we have been counting on for several years.
Last week, farmers also protested against high-speed lines from Prague to Brno. The track will hit the lands of several hundred farmers, including PIAS Suchdol, which may lose 100 hectares of land.
“There is talk of building a high-speed line, but no one has contacted us as the owner yet, and surveyors are already moving on our land,” Jan Mikulka, the company’s plant production manager, told a press conference on Tuesday. According to farmers, the construction of the expressway will also affect the ZAS Bečváry company, which is one of the largest food maize growers in the Czech Republic.
According to Mikulka, the planned construction will destroy up to 15 million tons of topsoil and the Czechia will lose the opportunity for about three million cubic meters of water to be infiltrated and retained in nature each year. A centimeter of topsoil has been hiding for about 100 years, notice. The Ministry of Transport wants to pay attention to the problem of topsoil in the price of the purchase of land.
The Ministry, through its spokesman František Jemelka, stated last week that the criticized northern variant of the high-speed line between Prague and Brno leads the five best from the Vrchlice waterworks, so it does not even encroach on the protection zone of this water source. Farmers also fear endangering water resources.
The Ministry of Transport, through its spokesman František Jemelka, stated last week that the criticized northern variant of the high-speed line between Prague and Brno runs five times from the Vrchlice waterworks, so it does not even encroach on the protection zone of this water source. Farmers also fear endangering water resources.
On Monday, Jemelka provided similar information regarding the line from Dresden to Prague, and agricultural or forest land will always be affected during new constructions.
“We do not take the concerns of farmers’ representatives lightly and we are aware that the resulting route of the much-anticipated high-speed rail must be a good compromise of different, often conflicting, interests or opinions. the state will remember them or a way will be sought at joint negotiations to minimize the impacts of the anticipated construction, “he concluded.
