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Anti-Nanar refinery project locals drum up political support
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SME Times News Bureau | 16 Apr, 2018
Days after Indian oil companies signed an agreement with Saudi Aramco
for setting up the world's largest refinery complex at Nanar in
Maharashtra's Ratnagiri, locals on Saturday started drummed up support
from different political parties in a bid to stop the project.
The
Konkan Refinery Shetkari-Machhimar Sangharsh Samiti (KRSMSS) and the
Refinery Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti (RVSS) have met political leaders
across the political spectrum to solicit support for the agitation
against the project.
KRSMSS chief Bhai Samant and RVSS head Ashok
Welam have called on Congress state President Ashok Chavan, Nationalist
Congress Party President Sharad Pawar, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena
President Raj Thackeray, besides meeting other leaders.
The
anti-Nanar groups got a major boost two days ago when Shiv Sena
President Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Swabhiman Party President
Narayan Rane - both constituents of the ruling NDA - openly attacked the
project.
They also accused Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of
"treachery" and "going back on his word" as the ruling Bharatiya Janata
Party kept mum on the issue.
Both Thackeray and Rane have made it
clear that they would not permit the destructive project to come up
under any circumstances, since the local people are against it.
On
his part, Pawar has announced plans to visit Nanar on May 10, meet the
villagers who will be affected, assess the ground realities and the
implications of the proposed mega-project on the people and environment.
"The
local people have given a very different picture than what the state
government has claimed," Pawar told media persons on Saturday.
Endorsing
the villagers struggle, Chavan said: "Development should have a humane
face. If the locals are opposing it, there is no question of
implementing it."
The protestors also secured the support of Raj Thackeray who gave them a sympathetic ear and promised to intervene.
Meanwhile,
political sources said Fadnavis has reported expressed apprehensions
that if the project is opposed and not allowed to come up in
Maharashtra, then it may be shifted to adjoining Gujarat.
On
April 11, a consortium comprising three major Indian oil marketing
companies - IOCL, BPCL and HPCL signed a MoU with Saudi Arabian Oil Co,
(Saudi Aramco), for setting up an integrated oil refinery and petroleum
products complex in the eco-sensitive Ratnagiri.
When completed,
the Rs 3 trillion complex at Nanar will be the world's biggest
single-location oil refinery project with a capacity to process 60
million tonnes annually.
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