Shiv Sena (UBT) decides to launch agitation against refinery at Barsu village

Opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) decided to launch an agitation against a proposed oil refinery at Barsu village in Maharashtra’s coastal Ratnagiri district amid protests against the project by local residents.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs called by party president Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai. The meeting was called to take a stand on the multi-billion project and decide the future course of action.

The decision was taken on a day when the Ratnagiri police arrested 111 people, most of them women, during a protest against the proposed refinery, an official said.

More than 100 women were among the protesters who tried to block a road in Barsu and Solgaon areas of the district, around 400km from Mumbai, by lying on the ground to stop government vehicles from entering the proposed site of the refinery, he said.

Local residents fear the mega project will adversely affect the fragile biodiversity of the coastal Konkan region and also hit their livelihood.

Earlier in the day, the Shiv Sena (UBT) came out in their support of the local residents. The party’s Rajya Sabha MP, Sanjay Raut, demanded an immediate end to atrocities against the protesters and asserted his party will not sit quietly on the issue and back the people.