The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Monday slammed Chief Devendra Fadnavis for ‘threatening’ people in the Konkan region over the proposed Nanar refinery in Ratnagiri district.
“The political tug-of-war over the refinery is highly improper. The Chief Minister is saying that if land is not made available [in the Konkan], the project will go to Gujarat,” Mr. Pawar said in Kolhapur.
If the people are opposed to the project because it would adversely impact their livelihood, the Chief Minister too should take into account their sentiments, the NCP chief said.
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“Even if the project does move to Gujarat, as the Chief Minister is warning, what is the harm? It will ultimately benefit all people in our country. Gujarat is not in Pakistan,” remarked Mr. Pawar, rebuking Mr. Fadnavis for his statement that the project would move out of Maharashtra unless land was made available and the locals stopped agitating.
He said he would visit the proposed site on May 10 and meet with the local people to understand their problems. However, Mr. Pawar clarified that he would not be holding any public function there.
Earlier, Mr. Pawar had said that the State government could mull over an alternate place in Maharashtra if the people of Ratnagiri had concerns.
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The mega refinery and petrochemical complex project, set to come up in Ratnagiri’s Rajapur Taluk , has already been engulfed in a political firestorm, with the Sena at loggerheads with its saffron coalition ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the project pegged at a whopping ₹1.5 trillion.
The project is being opposed by more than 3,000 people in around 15 villages in Rajapur taluk. Locals allege that the project, if implemented, could ruin 14,000 hectares of fertile land besides the thriving mango and cashew nut cultivation for which the region is famous.
Former Chief Minister and Maharashtra Swabhiman Party (MSP) chief Narayan Rane, too, has stepped into the fray, backing those opposing the project and attacking his nemesis, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray.
Mr. Rane had earlier said that the Sena (his former party) was merely “pretending to oppose the project”.