Barsu project: Industries minister meets Pawar again

Strap: Samant says project won’t be pushed without resolving concerns of villagers

Mumbai: Even as protests against the proposed oil refinery at Barsu-Solgaon villages in Ratnagiri continue, state industries minister Uday Samant on Monday met Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar at his residence for the second time in a week. He assured the veteran leader that no coercive action would be taken against the protestors and that the project would not proceed without resolving the concerns raised by them.

Samant said the locals have some “misunderstandings”, which the government was ready to clear by holding dialogues with them.

Samant said, “I assured Pawar saheb on behalf of the state government that the project will not proceed without having dialogue with the locals and no injustice will be done to them.”

This was the second time Samant met Pawar in less than a week over the issue. The meeting was held at a time when the state government is on the backfoot as locals are vehemently opposing the project and the opposition parties have made it clear that they are standing with the locals.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, an ally in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), is likely to visit Ratnagiri over the issue on May 6. On Sunday, opposition leader Ajit Pawar too declared that he would be visiting Barsu to meet the villagers, who are opposing the project.

“Farmers have raised some concerns; they also have some misunderstandings. We discussed what all can be done to resolve them,” said Samant adding, “No coercive action will be taken against them.”

On Sunday, Pawar had a telephonic conversation with the chief minister Eknath Shinde over the issue. The NCP chief conveyed concerns raised by the locals from Barsu and nearby villages after a delegation representing them met him at YB Chavan Center.

Despite protests, the state government has made it clear that they are not going to stop soil testing, which is the major reason for the unease among the locals.

“I have been repeating this again and again that this is just soil testing after which the company will decide whether they will have to take the project forward or not,” samant told reporters after meeting Pawar on Monday evening.

Last Tuesday, Barsu and nearby villages witnessed stringent police action against locals protesting a soil survey for the proposed project. The police detained more than 100 women, who were lying down on the roads to stop the entry of vehicles carrying survey equipment into the village.

The conflict between the locals and the government has snowballed into a political controversy, with the opposition MVA supporting the protests and demanding that the survey be stopped immediately.

Later, the police released most of the protestors, but the protest restarted after a meeting held between the locals and the local administration turned futile on Thursday.