MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday assured the proposed oil refinery at Barsu will not proceed further without the villagers' consent.
The Barsu villagers are protesting against the proposed oil refinery saying it will damage the local ecology and pollute the environment. Villagers opposed the land survey which led to a tussle with the police.
On Saturday, the protestors alleged that police had resorted to lathi charges and tear gas shells to disperse the protestors.
However, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that as per the collector no lathi charge was used by the police and there is no tension at the site.
He said that he told the police that no force should be used against the son of the soil. “Without the consent of the locals, the proposed oil refinery projects will not be undertaken at all. The people who are protesting are our people only. They are sons of the soil. We will not force them to give consent. The dialogue with villagers will happen,” Eknath Shinde said.
Uddhav Thackeray is also likely to visit Barsu and extend support to the protestors who are opposing the oil refinery at Barsu.
CM Eknath Shinde also criticized former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray who changed the oil refinery site from Nanar to Barsu. Shinde said that Uddhav Thackeray wrote a letter to the Prime Minister requesting the change and now he is opposing it.
“This is nothing but a double standard by the Opposition. They should not oppose the projects for the sake of opposition. This will hamper the state's development,” said CM Eknath Shinde.
Shinde said that they have got 70 per cent consent for this oil refinery.
“The government will also talk with the people who are opposing the project. These people will be given information about the projects. This project will help not only generate jobs but it will also bring more and more investment. Once they understand the importance of the project, they themselves will come out and extend the help. We will have a meeting with villagers where all pros and cons will be discussed. For the Samruddhi Marg project, initially, there was opposition, but later people supported it,” Shinde added.
On the other hand, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said that they are not against the development, but the local people should be taken into consideration before initiating the project.