While the Barsu Salgaon Refinery issue in Ratnagiri is blazing with fiery protests, the burning issue in the region is the land acquisitions, which can be suspected to be land grabs, in anticipation of the colossal development to come up because of this project, which encompasses 11 villages.
A requisition under the Right to Information Act (RTI) reveals—rather, compels you to make—a connection between the brutal murder of journalist Shashikant Warishe in February this year by a local politician from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) because he consistently wrote about people’s protests against the over Rs2 lakh crore oil refinery project.
While his voice has been silenced with
his murder in broad daylight by a road accident, a local RTI activist Samir Shirwadkar, secretary of the Information Rights Workers Federation, has procured some crucial information on the rat race to possess the land, the price of which could escalate multiple times.
Worse, Mr Shirwadkar, who filed an RTI application in the Barsu tehsildar's office, says that the original farmers have been kept in the dark about the enormity of this project by the buyers who bought land at throwaway prices from the farmers. Mr Shirwadkar has turned this information into an incisive campaign but has, last week, been issued a notice under Section 149 by the Sagari police station.
Mr Shirwadkar says, “The police has refrained me from visiting all the villages that come under this project and warned me that they would arrest me if I violate Section 149.”
The certified copies of Mr Shirwadkar’s RTI applications to the tehsildar have revealed interesting names from various sectors of the government. So, a political leader, an IAS officer, a police officer, an assistant GST commissioner and a bank manager are sitting pretty on land that is likely to make them multi-crorepatis in a short time, wherein their salaries will seem like chicken feed. Is there any proof that there is a connection between the project and the timing of the purchases? Apparently, yes, as these lands were bought between 2020 and the end of 2022.
While you have Ashish Deshmukh, former BJP MLA from Katol (in Vidarbha) leading with the acquisition of 18 hectares of land in Solgar village for Rs56.41 lakh between May and June 2022, there are others too from different professions allied to the powers-that-be. Their names are:
- Poonam Malhari Ombale, assistant GST commissioner (Mazgaon) along with two others – 2.4 hectares in Barsu village for Rs12 lakh bought in November 2022.
- Revaji Meghaji Rathod (father of Sandeep Revaji Rathod – IAS) and resident of Yawatmal – 13.5 hectares in Goval village for Rs27,50,00 bought in February 2020.
- Pradip Girijanath Tidar, senior police inspector Koparkudare police station (New Mumbai) – 1.75 hectares in Barsu village for Rs17.50 lakh in September 2022.
- Neelima Pradip Tidar, wife of Pradip Tidar—0.92 hectares in Barsu village for Rs4.20 lakh in August 2022.
- Akanksha Sanjay Bakalkar, who is the wife of the bank manager of Ratnagiri District Central Development Bank, Rajapur branch – 1.30 hectares in Barsu village for Rs9 lakh in February 2021.
- Anilkumar Mulchand Dongre, deputy engineer MSCEDL residing in Karad – 1.36 hectares in Barsu village for Rs4.15 lakh in January 2020.
Armed with this information, Mr Shirwadkar sent an official complaint to chief minister Eknath Shinde for action. He wrote that the lands have been purchased without taking farmers into confidence; in fact, keeping them in the dark and therefore this transaction is illegal. He says, “I have appealed to the chief minister to cancel the land transactions and return it to the farmers. In case the project does come up, then the government should directly buy land by paying market rate compensation to the original farmers. What’s going on is land grab by those close to power and we are opposing it tooth and nail.”
Moneylife had reported earlier in February 2023 that ‘This ambitious project of the BJP government has had severe opposition from the locals who fear hazardous chemical effluents that would damage their mango agro-industry and fisheries business, running into several thousand crores of rupees. Adding to its agony, this area has attained great historical value since 2015, with hundreds of prehistoric geoglyphs or petroglyphs, which are sculptures carved on gravel or flat rocks, being unearthed.’ (
Read: Whistle-blower Shashikant Warishe, Who Penned People’s Anguish against Toxic Oil Refinery Project, Killed)
States RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar, “Such land grab has become routine. Another example is the Samruddhi Express. Hence, development is more related to the personal wealth agenda of those in power and close to power.”
Says Sandeep Shetty, who lost his brother Satish to the land mafia, the details of which he had unearthed through RTI, “Although we cannot legally establish that the land purchases have a direct connection to the coming in of the project, the timing and the nature of people who are buying it, makes it all suspicious.”
According to Mr Shirwadar, the chief minister has sent his complaint to the revenue department for action. What’s your guess? Will it take action?
(Vinita Deshmukh is consulting editor of Moneylife. She is also the convener of the Pune Metro Jagruti Abhiyaan. She is the recipient of prestigious awards like the Statesman Award for Rural Reporting, which she won twice in 1998 and 2005 and the Chameli Devi Jain award for outstanding media person for her investigation series on Dow Chemicals. She co-authored the book “To The Last Bullet - The Inspiring Story of A Braveheart - Ashok Kamte” with Vinita Kamte and is the author of “The Mighty Fall”.)
Shinde govt will have a hard time burying this under the carpet.
Perhaps more pressure can be brought on those in charge by a letter writing campaign from readers of this newsletter, from all over India and abroad, if the names and addresses of the officials in charge are posted in a followup of this article.