Maharashtra: Uddhav Thackeray to visit Barsu today; police presence increased

A large number of policemen have been deployed in and around Barsu village in Maharashtras Ratnagiri district the site of a proposed refinery in view of Shiv Sena UBT leader Uddhav Thackerays visit as well as a rally of supporters of the project on Saturday a senior official has saidOrders prohibiting unlawful assembly too have been imposed under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in the area he saidThackeray is going to visit the village in the Rajapur taluka more than 400 km from Mumbai and interact with those who are opposing the governments plans to provide land for a megaoil refinery in the areaSupporters of the refinery project have also organised a rally in the vicinity at the same time the official saidAlso Read Wont proceed with refinery till misconceptions of protesters resolved Maharashtra minister after meeting PawarThackeray hadplanned to hold a rally in BarsuSolgaon area earlier but was denied permissionBesides district police additional personnel from Sindhudurg Sangli Satara Kolhapur Pune and Thane and companies of State Reserve Police Force SRPF have been deployed in Rajaput taluka the official saidProtests broke out at Barsu after the work for soil testing began at the site last month with a section of locals opposing the project on the grounds that it will adversely affect the fragile biodiversity of the coastal Konkan region and also hit their livelihoodThe project has also pitted the states Eknath ShindeBJP 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 agitationFollowing 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 surveyUday Samant Maharashtra industries minister had said that the current site for the mega project was suggested by thenCM Thackeray He alleged that misunderstandings were being deliberately created about the project for political mileage and slammed the politics of double standardsSamant claimed that out of 5000 acres of land needed for the refinery people owning 2900 acres have already given consent lettersAmid the protest Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that the proposed refinery project at Barsu wont be implemented without the local peoples consent as he appealed for calm in the areaThe 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 BarsuAccording to Aaditya Thackeray the previous MVA government which collapsed in June 2022 following a rebellion by Shinde had put some conditions before giving a nod to the project which included taking the locals into confidence and explaining the details of the venture and its benefitsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever