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Shiv Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said the proposed oil refinery in Barsu in coastal Ratnagiri district should be moved to Gujarat and good investment projects from the neighbouring state be brought to Maharashtra.
Interacting with villagers at Barsu, Thackeray dared the government to face the protesters and support the project, even as Bharatiya Janata Party leaders took out a rally in the area backing it.
As the chief minister of Maharashtra, Thackeray said, he had proposed Barsu as a site for the refinery project when he was the chief minister. He asserted that he did not specify come what may, even if it means “breaking heads of protesters” or people turning pauper, the refinery project must come up.
“The bulk drugs park, Vedanta-Foxconn and Tata-Airbus are gone (to Gujarat). My opinion is to take this (refinery) project to Gujarat and bring our good projects to Maharashtra. Whatever is non-controversial is for Gujarat and what is controversial is imposed on Konkan and Maharashtra,” Thackeray said.
On the other hand, BJP MLA Nitesh Rane, his brother and former MP Nilesh Rane, took out a morcha in support of the refinery project.
Nilesh Rane said Thackeray backed the project when he was the chief minister, but he is opposing it as he is in the opposition now.
Thackeray said that he will not let any development project come up that hurts the interests of people.
The ex-CM said he had the honesty to face the protesters. He said the government should hold a dialogue with locals before coming up with any project.
A section of locals is opposing the Barsu refinery on the grounds that it will adversely affect the fragile biodiversity of the coastal Konkan region and also hit their livelihood.
Thackeray said when he was the chief minister, similar protests had taken place while building the Samruddhi highway.
“But we struck a dialogue with protesters. We worked out a way without hampering development,” he said.
Earlier, Thackeray had planned to hold a rally in the Barsu-Solgaon area earlier but was denied permission.
Protests broke out at Barsu after the work for soil testing began at the site last month. It also pitted the state's Eknath Shinde-BJP government against the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, comprising the Shiv Sena-UBT, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress.
MVA leaders have demanded sensitive handling of the situation arising out of the agitation.
Following the detention of several protesters, including women, Shiv Sena-UBT leader and former state environment minister Aaditya Thackeray had asked the government to “stop atrocities on people and also the soil survey”.
Uday Samant, Maharashtra industries minister, had alleged that “misunderstandings” were being deliberately created about the project for political mileage and slammed the “politics of double standards”.
Samant claimed that out of 5,000 acres of land needed for the refinery, people owning 2,900 acres have already given consent letters.
Amid the protests, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said last month that the proposed refinery project at Barsu won't be implemented without the local people's consent as he appealed for calm in the area.
The project was initially planned at Nanar in Ratnagiri district. Following protests by locals earlier, the erstwhile Uddhav Thackeray government had suggested to the Centre an alternative site at Barsu.