E-Paper
CM on Konkan tour amid anti-Nanar stir
Mumbai: Chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray started his two-day tour of Konkan region in western Maharashtra on Monday morning, amid protests by local residents
Mumbai: Chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray started his two-day tour of Konkan region in western Maharashtra on Monday morning, amid protests by local residents over what they allege is an attempt to revive the Nanar oil refinery project in Ratnagiri.
While this is the CM’s first tour of the region since he took charge in November, he is not scheduled to meet any protesters.
At a meeting in Ganpatipule, Ratnagiri, the CM announced a development plan for the region and sanctioned funds worth ₹102 crore for it. “There should be no crunch of funds while undertaking any development work in this region,” Thackeray said. He announced that the development plan — which will provide better services such as roads, drinking water, toilets and amenities for tourists — will be implemented by March 31, 2022.
Thackeray plans to visit the Sindhudurg Fort and inspect the Chipi airport. The tour will also include a district review meeting of Sindhudurg, as well as a meeting to review tourism prospects of the Konkan region, particularly Sindhudurg.
The CM is accompanied by state industries minister Subhash Desai; guardian minister of Ratnagiri district Anil Parab; and Shiv Sena MP from Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Vinayak Raut. Raut and Desai had on Sunday assured residents that the government has no plans to revive the Nanar refinery project, which was shelved by the previous Bharatiya Janata Party-led government on its then ally, the Shiv Sena’s insistence, last year.
Raut on Sunday said, “The topic of Nanar is over. No one is allowed to bring it up. If anyone revives the topic in Shiv Sena’s name, it will not be tolerated.” Similarly, Desai had said in Dhule that the “Shiv Sena has not changed its stand on Nanar oil refinery”.
Both their statements were prompted by an advertisement promoting Ratnagiri Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd (RRPCL) on the first page of Saamana’s Ratnagiri edition, just two days before the CM’s visit to the region. Raut had clarified that: “Saamana is also a newspaper. Like any other newspaper, it also takes advertisements.”
