Even as a report by the state government-appointed committee to review the construction of a cement plant in Mahuva is awaited,a host of local BJP leaders from Bhavnagar have set up the Mahuva Vikas Hitrakshak Samittee (MVHS) to promote industrial growth in the taluka. The new committee held a massive public meeting at Mahuva on Saturday to advocate support for the plant being set up by Nirma. Incidentally,Mahuva MLA Kanubhai Kalsaria has been leading a month-long agitation to prevent the cement plant from coming up. The agitation started on May 1 and saw some result on May 28 when the government agreed to appoint a committee and issue site closure orders on an immediate basis until the committee submits its report. The committee is expected to submit its report in 15 days. Meanwhile,two public movements are gathering momentum at Mahuva one by the BJP legislator against the setting up of the cement plant and the other by a host of party leaders in favour of the plant. The latter group includes Tadaja MLA Bhavna Makwana,Bhavnagar district president R C Makwana,Mahuva taluka president Shamji Makwana,Mahuvatown president Bharat Thakkar,Marketing Yard chairman Ghanshyam Patel and a host of other leaders. Little wonder,the second movement has isolated Kalsaria,who has locked horns with the government over the issue. Kalsaria went to villages,stayed with the people,and created awareness over the salinity ingress arising as a result of the construction of the plant. Kalsaria has raised the issue that the one million tonnes per year capacity plant for which the state government has allotted 45,000 hectares of land,which also includes one-third of 65 mcft Samadhiyala Dam,a water supply source for five villages of Mahuva and Rajula taluka coupled with mining for the plant,will lead to salinity ingress. On Sunday,Kalsaria took out a rally in Mahuva,accusing his party colleagues of acting out of fear and in the interest of vested groups. Half of those who have formed the Mahuva Vikas Hitrakshak Samiti are acting out of fear of the party,and the other half did so to satisfy vested interests, he said. He admitted that the opposition is still strong. All other BJP leaders are in the other camp. I am the lone one left to struggle here. But that will only make me all the more committed to the issue, he added. Elsewhere,the MVHS has said that the plant will bring about industrial growth in the region and pose no threat to environment. We are against all those who oppose the construction. The plant will bring industrial growth to Mahuva, said R C Makwana. The MVHS has,however,refrained from making a direct reference to Kalsaria,adding that it will act as a platform to promote industrialisation in the taluka. Kalsaria had joined the protest in 2007 after being reportedly approached by the local farmers. He had cited the verdict of the Gujarat High Court that had ordered a ban on filling up of any water body and immediate notifications of all water bodies in the state. But till date,the Gujarat government has not notified the Samadhiyala Dam,which was constructed in 2001. In the absence of any notification,the project was given a go-ahead by the Gujarat Advocate General in the end of 2007. Farmers intensified their agitation after Nirma began work on the site in March after securing a nod from the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
