Barsu refinery protest: Discussions with govt only after survey stopped and police withdrawn, say agitators

Even as the government appears to be using the carrot and stick approach to bring the Barsu agitators to the table for discussions, the agitators have made it clear that they would do so only after the current work on soil survey is completely stopped, police force withdrawn and normal conditions allowed to prevail.

Satyajeet Chavan, president of Konkan Vinashakari Prakalpa Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti addressing media at Mumbai Press Club. Flanking him are (left) Vaibhav Kolwankar and Narendra Joshi, the leaders of Barsu Refineray Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti. |

𝗪𝗼𝗻❜𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗼𝗶𝗹 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱: 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘆𝗮𝗷𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗻

“After ignoring our repeated requests for our side to be heard, the government is now saying that they will hold discussions with all the stake holders. But, we shall continue with our agitation and won’t go in for discussions with the government till current work on soil survey is completely stopped, police force withdrawn and normal conditions allowed to prevail,” Satyajeet Chavan, president of the Konkan Vinashkari Prakalp Sangharsh Samiti, an NGO spearheading agitations against various projects in Konkan region said here on Friday.

Chavan along with Narendra Joshi and Vaibhav Kolwankar, the President and Secretary of Barsu Prakalp Sangharsh Samiti addressed a press conference where they appraised the media of the atrocities that the agitators are being subjected to.

𝗪𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽: 𝗔𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀

“The government is keeping no stone unturned in suppressing the agitation. The ministers have been saying that no force will be used against the agitators. But, additional police personnel have been brought in from adjoining districts and the whole area comprising of five villages including Barsu has been converted into a police camp,” Chavan said.

“I was illegally detained for over 11 hours and then arrested twice before imposing orders preventing me from entering the Ratnagiri district for 15 days,” he added while giving details of the government atrocities.

Agitators comprise of mostly women and children and there are several atrocities against women and children, he said and added, “But, the agitation will continue.”“We are part of the committee of villagers who work in Mumbai. There is a similar committee at village level. All of us regularly donate for a common fund and our agitation is completely funded by that fund. We are affiliated to no political party,” Chavan said while replying to various allegations levelled against the anti-refinery protesters.

“Over 4000 people are still out there opposing the project even though preventive orders have been imposed against 45 agitators so far. They are being prevented from entering their own villages,” he added.

𝗚𝗼𝘃𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗺 𝗦𝗮𝗯𝗵𝗮𝘀: 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀

Barsu, which is actually a hamlet of Dhopeahwar village near Rajapur has already resolved in Gram Sabha (village meeting) against the project as well as the survey. Other adjoining villages of Gowal, Solgaon, Devache Gothane and Shivne Khurd too have got such resolutions passed a long back. However, the government itself is not following the law which binds them to follow the resolutions of Gram Sabhas, the activists said.

The activists also said that they are against all polluting industries and that their agitation is actually for an alternate model of development Konkan region. “We want the political parties to understand and act on this demand. But, they only talk about not using force and increased compensation etc. None of them have as yet said that they are opposed to such polluting industries,” Chavan said.

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