Controversy Over The Proposed Refinery At Barsu In Rajapur

Controversy has arisen over the proposed refinery at Barsu in Rajapur, Konkan. The drilling work started on Tuesday after local opposition to soil testing of the project was broken by police force. Police detained around 110 protesters. It has caused severe repercussions in political circles, with the opposition targeting the government demanding an end to police repression and suspension of work.

For the past few months, there has been strong opposition at the local level to the preliminary work required for the project in the Barsu area. Last year, in the month of November-December, the villagers stopped the survey work with strong opposition. Anticipating that there will be opposition to the drilling work for soil testing starting this week, the district administration imposed curfew in Barsu and eight surrounding villages from last Sunday. However, the villagers laid siege to Barsu's Sada all day on Monday. Some citizens were sent home on Monday. However, a group of protesters kept vigil at the protest site throughout the night. The administration also deployed around two thousand police forces in the area. No action was taken on Monday. However, there was a tense atmosphere there. When some private vehicles were seen coming in the police line, women's stopped the vehicles by rolling on the road of Barsu Sada. At this time, the police took an aggressive stance and detained 110 protestors and brought them to Ratnagiri in the ST vehicles that had already been brought there. Also, the representatives of the electronic media who were talking at the spot were also evicted.

Although the district administration succeeded in starting the drilling work using police force on Tuesday, the opposition of the local villagers is unlikely to subside soon. Therefore, tension is likely to remain in the area for the next few days. Meanwhile, District Collector Devender Singh and District Superintendent of Police Dhananjay Kulkarni interacted with the representatives of the anti-project villagers on Tuesday evening. The project will be done by listening to the protestors of the project and taking them into confidence. A special meeting has been organized in Rajapur on this subject in the presence of experts on Thursday. In it, the protestors should present their views, their doubts or questions will be answered appropriately," explained the District Collector while discussing with the delegation. Provincial Magistrate Vaishali Mane, Tehsildar Sheetal Jadhav were present on this occasion.

Courtesy: Loksatta