MUMBAI:The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Wednesday witnessed ruckus over the proposed Greenfield refinery project at Nanar in Ratnagiri district of Konkan region.
As soon as the House assembled on Wednesday, Sena MLA Sunil Prabhu demanded that the party MLAs be allowed to speak first on the issue under the ‘point of information’. However, Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil (Congress) opposed the Sena’s demand, saying the Opposition had already submitted a notice for adjournment motion on the issue.
Speaker Haribhau Bagde said that members of the Congress and NCP be allowed to speak on the issue immediately after Minister of State for Agriculture Sadashiv Khot finished giving his reply on a debate on farmers’ issues.
Vikhe Patil was joined by Ajit Pawar of the NCP. However, Sena MLAs tuck to their demand and stormed into the Well of the House. Subsequently, the session was adjourned for short durations. However, Shiv Sena MLAs kept repeating their demand, forcing the presiding officers to adjourned the proceedings for two more times.
As the unruly scenes continued unabated in the house, the Shiv Sena and Congress MLAs tried to take away Speaker’s mace and overturned a chair on the dais. Finally the speaker adjourned the house for the day.
The Nanar refinery project has run into rough weather, as local people as well as the Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) have been opposing it staunchly. The project envisages construction of an integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex in Ratnagiri district.Local people have been opposing the project claiming that it would damage ecology.
Why the noise against Nanar project?
The project needs 15,000 acres of land , which is more than 90 per cent of villages in Ratnagiri district and the rest in two villages of the adjacent Sindhudurg district.
At least 22,000 farmers and 4,500 fisherfolk will be impacted by the project.