On May 27, a sunny Saturday, some 30 men from the villages of Barsu, Goval, Shivane Khurd and Devache Gothane in Ratnagiri climbed atop the vast laterite plateau in their neighbourhood. They walked a mile further under the scorching sun and camped under a banyan tree, where they removed their shirts and lined up in front of a barber. He shaved their heads one by one and then they proceeded to a nearby site where a religious ceremony took place. “We have gathered here to perform the cremation rites of the state government,” said one of them. “This ceremony is called ‘pind daan’, which is performed on the day of ‘varsha shraddha’, the death anniversary of a deceased person. For us, the government of Maharashtra died when it announced that Barsu and nearby villages would be the site of the proposed Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (RRPCL) oil refinery complex.”
“Most of the villagers are against this project,” said Krishna Arekar from Shivane Khurd. Surveyors had collected soil samples from various sites on the plateau and the police had been deployed to protect them. “A big protest took place to stop the survey,” said Arekar. “The police attacked protesting villagers. Women were dragged to police vans and taken away. Men were arrested and locked up till the survey was completed.”
This story is from the July 02, 2023 edition of THE WEEK India.
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This story is from the July 02, 2023 edition of THE WEEK India.
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