Shiv Sena says no to locals demanding revival of stalled refinery project in Ratnagiri

The ruling Shiv Sena said the refinery could not be planned at the original site, though it could be relocated somewhere else in the Konkan region.

Shiv Sena says no to locals demand of stalled refinery project revival in Ratnagiri

“The project which was planned in Nanar has already been shelved by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray,” Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said. (File)

A group of locals held a rally in Nanar area of Ratnagiri district on Monday, demanding that a shelved oil refinery project be revived. But the ruling Shiv Sena said the refinery could not be planned at the original site, though it could be relocated somewhere else in the Konkan region.

“The project which was planned in Nanar has already been shelved by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. If the supporters want the project, then they should decide a suitable place for it. But at the current location of Nanar, the project will not come up as the CM has made it crystal clear,” Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said.

Raut said that the project, if located at the original site, could be extremely damaging for the environment, and affect the fishing activity of the local population.

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“There cannot be any compromise on the issue of protecting the environment of the Konkan region. And therefore, the Shiv Sena is opposed to the project at the original location,” he said, adding that the party would, however, support the relocation of the project.

“We know the importance of the project, but it cannot be set up without the consent of the local citizens and without any consideration of the threat it poses to the environment of the region. If local residents oppose the project, it will not come up. If they suggest another location, the government may consider it. Finally, it is people of the area who have to take the call. The government will always be with the people,” Raut said.

At Monday’s rally, however, the local people said they were in favour of keeping the project at the original location as it would create jobs for them, and their youth would not have to travel to Mumbai or Pune to earn a living.

Under the banner of Konkan Jankalyan Pratishtan, the group of locals passed a resolution on Monday demanding that the project should come up in Rajapur taluka, where Nanar is located.

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“The project must not go out of this area. It is in the interest of the local people,” Avinash Mahajan, one of the coordinators of the rally, said.

Some local Shiv Sena leaders were also present at the rally, and leaders from the BJP, which has been demanding that the project be set up at the original location, were also present.

On Sunday, Shiv Sena MP Vinayak Raut warned local party leaders not to participate in the rally or face expulsion.

A senior official of the Indian Oil Corporation, which is carrying out the project, said talks with the state governments were going on to look for an alternative location within the Konkan region. “Dialogue with the state government is going on regarding setting up of the project in Konkan. But nothing is final yet,” he said.

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Supporting the project in Konkan area, Ali Daruwala, spokesperson of the All India Petrol Dealers Association (AIPDA), said, “India badly needs the oil refinery project to reduce its dependency on foreign countries. The project will generate 20,000 jobs and will help change the economy of the region.”

AIPDA said if the refinery is set up in Nanar, it is expected to process 1.2 million barrels of crude per day. “Currently, there are only two refineries in the country. Our refining capacity needs to go up to meet future energy demands,” he said.

Daruwala said APIDA was of the view that politics should be kept aside and national interest should be given importance. “The project is needed badly by the country whether in Nanar or anywhere else,” he said.

The refinery project requires 15,000 acres of land from 16 villages of Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg district.

(With inputs from Loksatta)

Manoj Dattatrye More

Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades. Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives. Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees. During Covid, over 50 doctors were asked to pay Rs 30 lakh each for getting a job with PCMC. The PCMC administration alerted Manoj More who did a story on the subject, asking then corporators how much money they demanded....The story worked as doctors got the job without paying a single paisa. Manoj More has also covered the "Latur drought" situation in 2015 when a "Latur water train" created quite a buzz in Maharashtra. He also covered the Malin tragedy where over 150 villagers had died. Manoj More is on Facebook with 4.9k followers (Manoj More), on twitter manojmore91982 ... Read More

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