Sena Ministers Urge CM to Cancel Nanar Land Acquisition

Mumbai, June 5 (PTI) The Shiv Sena today requested Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to cancel acquisition of land for the proposed mega oil refinery project at Nanar in Ratnagiri district.

A delegation of five senior ministers of the Sena called on Fadnavis urging him to clear the file for cancellation of the land acquisition.

As per the copy of a memorandum submitted to the CM, the Sena ministers cited recent violent agitation against Sterlite plant at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu.

It stated that similar tension has been prevailing amongst local people in Nanar.

The ministers said that in order to avoid Tuticorin-like situation, the state government should clear a proposal moved by Industries department (headed by Shiv Sena) to cancel the land acquisition for the multi-billion dollar project.

The memorandum cited the Tamil Nadu government's decision to shut down the Sterlite plant.

The memorandum was signed by four out of five Sena ministers Subhash Desai (Industries), Diwakar Raote (Public Transport), Ramdas Kadam (Environment) and Dr Deepak Sawant (Public Health) excluding PWD (state PSUs) Minister Eknath Shinde.

"There was a widespread resentment amongst the locals people against the proposed project. All Gram Panchayats have passed resolutions opposing the project and the stalled land acquisition process," it stated.

The memorandum said the government didn't have a policy to proceed with land acquisition without approval of the local people.

The ministers recalled that the CM had said that the project would not be forced upon if local population is against it.

"Industries Minister Subhash Desai had announced the cancellation of the land acquisition notification and had directed Secretary, Industries department, to submit a proposal to that effect," the memorandum stated.

Desai had announced in Ratnagiri in April that the government notification for acquiring land for the project in Nanar, over 350 kilometres from here, has been cancelled.

However, chief minister had contradicted him, saying the order has not been cancelled.

Three Indian oil majors had signed a Memorandum of Understanding on April 11 with Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil company of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to develop a refinery and petrochemicals complex in the state.

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