Days after NCP president Sharad Pawar recommended the governing administration to initiate a conversation with the villages opposed to the project, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said on Friday that the residents of Barsu, where a refinery has been planned, had no faith in the Shiv Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra.
When speaking with reporters, Raut also claimed that the refinery project was being carried out to safeguard the interests of politicians and other “outsiders” who had purchased land in Barsu. He demanded that the government make a list of these individuals available to the public.
“I listened to what Sharad Pawar stated about the need for a confidential engagement with the community. What, therefore, is one to do? They don’t trust the government, according to Raut.
Pawar said on Wednesday that the Ratnagiri district’s residents who are opposed to a refinery project should be heard by the Maharashtra government. He advised finding an other site if the problem was still not fixed after that.
The NCP leader said that although his party was not against development initiatives in Konkan, it was crucial to get the residents’ perspectives. More than 400 kilometres from Mumbai, in the Rajapur tehsil of Ratnagiri district, a segment of the Barsu village’s people are protesting the project, and the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress, the NCP’s allies in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition, are standing with them.
After the idea to build a refinery in Nana was cancelled, Raut said that his party’s president Uddhav Thackeray stated that the Centre was continuously requesting alternate land. “An other land was suggested on Delhi’s request. But during those 2.5 years, the then-chief minister Uddhav Thackeray did not attempt to seize land through coercion.
“Our stance is that we don’t need Barsu (the refinery project) if people didn’t want the project. The government should halt land acquisition and the survey because of local opposition and the current environment. The issue won’t be under control until then, he said.