Mumbai: When the Industries Minister, Subhash Desai announced on Saturday that the chemical refinery project at Nanar in Ratnagiri was scrapped, the locals erupted in joy. The report of scrapping the project made the villagers happy, because they believe they could save their lands from falling into the hands of the wrong people.
The refinery, aka the Nanar project, hit the national headlines in April 2018 when the Free Press Journal exclusively reported that non-Maharashtrian people residing in Mumbai and Gujarat had purchased pieces of land in Nanar anticipating higher rates as compensation.
The story became a turning point, as for locals opposing the project, it shifted focus from environmental destruction to unlawful land acquisition. The issue became so hot that the Shiv Sena made it its prestige to cancel the project.
The investors from Mumbai invested in land near the site of the proposed mega refinery project at Nanar in Ratnagiri district, which was widely covered by the Free Press Journal (FPJ). It was the turning point and the protest from the locals intensified.
The national media and the political parties alike had to take cognisance of the issue that resulted in announcement of de-notifying the land acquired for the project by Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and industries minister Subhash Desai. Following this, the FPJ also revealed the project would be shifted from Nanar and finally, the project was scrapped. The Nanar refinery was a path breaking issue that was coevered at every stage.
Investors, including Modi, Shah, Rathi, Jhunjhunwala invested in lands in Nanar and surrounding villages, which were on the list of land acquisition for the oil refinery project. They pressured the state government to set up the project, so that they could get an attractive compensation package. It was exposed by the FPJ on April 15 and April 18, 2018.
All political parties took cognisance of the story and put pressure on the state government to scrap the project for the sake of farmers and land owners. Within a week after FPJ exposure, Thackeray and Desai announced to de-notify the project at Nanar on April 25, 2018. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also announced to stay on the land acquisition at Nanar in the Assembly in June 2018.
In another expose, the FPJ on January 15, 2019, revealed the project will be shifted from Nanar to Raigad district. The correspondent visited villages and claimed that might be the new site for the refinery project. Finally, Desai scrapped the project and made the announcement on March 2, 2019. For FPJ, it was a path breaking story followed by the national media and the political parties.
