‘Won’t vote for MVA without clear stand on refinery project’: Barsu-Solgaon protestors mull fielding own candidate for LS polls

Amol Bole, president of the Barsu Solgaon Panchkroshi Refinery Virodhi Sanghatna, said, “A meeting of the villagers and members of the organisation took place on Friday during which it was decided that the MVA constituents must include an anti-refinery project stand in their upcoming election manifesto. The villagers are clear on this.”

“If the MVA does not take up the issue in the election manifesto, the organisation will field a candidate in Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg. We appeal to the MVA to take the initiative now so that there is no confusion about its stand on the refinery project like last time. We have decided not to vote for the MVA if it does not include the anti-refinery stand in Konkan in the manifesto,” he added.

The decision is likely to impact the Sena (UBT) which considers the Konkan region its bastion after Mumbai where too its voter base hails from the Konkan. Currently, the Sena (UBT)’s Vinayak Raut represents the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha constituency.

Meanwhile, the ruling BJP and the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde are in favour of the refinery project.

The project is being executed by Ratnagiri Refinery Petrochemicals Ltd (RRPCL), a company set up in 2017 and jointly owned by the state-run Indian Oil Corporation, BPCL Ltd and HPCL Ltd. Initially, it was proposed in Nanar village in Ratnagiri district, but following opposition by locals and environment activists, the Maharashtra government led by Uddhav Thackeray (when he was chief minister) wrote to the Centre in January 12, 2022 that it would identify 13,000 acres for acquisition for the project in Barsu village, Rajapur.

However, large-scale protests by villagers stalled work in early 2023 after the state government led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis started survey work and soil testing in Barsu, forcing the administration to deploy a huge police force.

The residents of Barsu-Solgaon and neighbouring villages are concerned about the project’s potential impact on the environment and the livelihoods of local communities which are mostly dependent on the cultivation of mango, jack fruit and cashew besides fishing. All the villages in the region have passed resolutions opposing the project. The project site is also in an ecologically sensitive region, with several species of flora and fauna endemic to the area.