Former Chief Minister and Maharashtra Swabhiman Party (MSP) president, Narayan Rane, on Thursday charged that contrary to the ruling Shiv Sena’s publicly-stated “opposition” to the Nanar refinery project, its chief, Uddhav Thackeray, was “threatening” those opposing the proposed green project in Rajapur taluka of Ratnagiri district in coastal Konkan region.
Seeking to “expose” the Sena’s “double-speak” on the Nanar green refinery project, Rane alleged that Uddhav had called an activist Ashok Walam, who leading an agitation against the refinery project, to his “Matoshri” residence and threatened the latter against continuing his protest against the controversial project.
Talking to media persons here, Rane said: “The proposed Nanar refinery, if permitted to come up in Ratnagiri, will ruin the entire Konkan region. The Shiv Sena’s opposition to the Nanar project is a mere facade, because Sena’s Industries Minister has already given an administrative approval to the project. No wonder that the Sena president called Walam to his residence and threatened him against leading the against the Nanar refinery project”.
Ashok Walam’s son was also present at the Press conference addressed by Rane.
Rane, who is a prominent leader from coastal Konkan region, also charged that in effort to coerce against Walam against opposing the Nanar project, the police had registered an offence against the latter and his wife. “ Walam has received a threat letter from the Sena leader. In the letter, Sena leaders have also promised Walam that he would be given money that would last him and his family for seven generations...Unable to handle the harassment he suffered at the hands of the Sena leaders, Walam is undergoing treatment at a private hospital,” he said.
“The Nanar project is being opposed by people in as many 17 villages in Rajapur taluka. The project, if implemented, will ruin 13,000 hectares of land, seven lakhs of mango trees and two lakhs of cashew nut trees. It will prove to be detrimental to the interests of fishermen in the area,” the former Chief Minister said.
“In anticipation of likely rise in land rates after the start of green refinery at Nanar, Sena leaders like Vinayak Raut and Rajaram Savi have purchased huge tracts of land in that area. They are also pressuring local people make available their land for the project. If the Sena is opposed to the project, then Uddhav Thackeray should himself announce that the project has been suspended, Rane said
Rane, who is understandably aggrieved that he has not been inducted into the State Cabinet more than three months after he announced his support to the BJP-led NDA, said that he would take up the issue with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to demand abandonment of Nanar project.
“Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis himself has on record, saying that the project is being located in Konkan region at the insistence of Shiv Sena. It is in this context that I am planning to meet Fadnavis and the Prime Minister. We know how to oppose a project,” Rane said.
On its part, the Sena has been maintaining that it is opposed to the Nanar refinery project. last Month, Sena’s Union Heavy Industries Minister and senior Shiv Sena leader Anant Geete had hit out Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for dragging his name into the matters pertaining to Nanar refinery project and said his party would oppose the project tooth and nail.
“We are opposed to the project because local people are opposing it. The project would require acquisition of 15,000 acres of land and would affect inhabitants of 14 villages. The people will have to be displaced. This is not acceptable to Shiv Sena,” Geete had said.
Alluding to news report that quoted Fadnavis as saying that the Sena leaders Geete and Sena MP from Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Vinayak Raut had rooted for location of the project in Konkan region, Geete had said: “the statement from Chief Minister is surprising and is wrong”.
On their part, both Geete and Raut have denied that they had submitted any memorandum making a case for Nanar project either to state government or to the centre.