Nanar refinery: Act fast to avoid ‘Tuticorin like’ situation, Shiv Sena tells CM Fadnavis

A letter signed by Sena ministers was handed over to Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis. (Express photo/File)

A day before BJP chief Amit Shah and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray’s scheduled meeting in the city, the Shiv Sena has upped the ante against the proposed Nanar refinery in Ratnagiri. A delegation of Shiv Sena ministers led by Industries Minister Subhash Desai met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday demanding the cancellation of the notification of land acquisition for the Nanar refinery project in Ratnagiri. A letter signed by Sena ministers — Desai, Transport Minister Diwakar Raote, Environment Minister Ramdas Kadam and Health Minister Deepak Sawant — was handed over to Fadnavis.

In the letter, the Sena has asked Fadnavis to act swiftly to avoid a Tuticorin-like situation in Nanar. Thirteen people had died after the police opened fire on protestors seeking shutdown of Sterlite Copper’s industrial unit in Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu last month.

“The Sena stand is to take an immediate decision to avoid an unfortunate Tuticorin-like situation in Nanar. Such an incident shouldn’t happen during the Sena-BJP government. So, we demand that Fadnavis should give immediate approval to the Industries Department’s proposal to cancel the land acquisition notification for the refinery project,” said Desai.

Desai said the Industries Department had sent the file to Fadnavis seeking his permission to cancel the notification. During the lst week of April, Desai had written a letter to the secretary of the Industries Department to prepare a proposal to cancel the land acquisition notification. Sources in the department said there hasn’t been much progress on the proposal.

Meanwhile, the state cabinet on Tuesday took a decision to set up a cancer hospital having 100 beds on a private partnership basis to provide advanced treatment to patients in Chandrapur.

In another decision, the cabinet waived the requirement of an auction for granting mining supply to the government’s vital infrastructure projects implemented by government agencies.