Residents Protest Against Ratnagiri Oil Refinery, Say It Will Not be Eco-Friendly

In Nanar village of Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra, residents are protesting against the construction of one of the largest oil refineries in the world. The 40 trillion dollar project, known as West Coast Refinery, has been facing strong opposition since it was proposed. Thousands of farmers have been on the roads since the last seven days, opposing government’s attempts to carry out a joint measurement survey.

The government has said that this will be a ‘green refinery’, which has astonished the villagers, as the functioning of the refinery will cause considerable damage to the environment. It will result in the destruction of the flora and fauna of the biodiversity-rich Konkan belt and heavily pollute the area. The new plant will be located close to the Jaitapur nuclear project, making the threat to local animal and plant species very real. It will also adversely impact the livelihoods of the locals, who are largely dependent on fishing and farming.

If constructed, the project will consist of five huge operations - a refinery plant, a plastic plant, an aromatic plant, a water desalination plant, and a thermal power plant to provide electricity for this mega structure.

The government declared around 16,000 acres of land as an industrial zone for the project in May of this year. This will cover 16 villages in the area. Moreover, instead of following the Land Acquisition Act of 2013, the land is being acquired under the Maharashtra Industrial Development Act of 1961.

The process for surveying the land for calculating compensation has been initiated by the government but is currently being obstructed by the villagers in their protest. They have been blocking the surveying instruments being used by government officers using sheets of cloth and black umbrellas. Satyajit Chavan, the convener of Konkan Vinashkari Prakalp Virodhi Samiti (KVPVS) which is leading the movement, said that if the joint measurement survey is completed, people will begin receiving eviction notices, and it will become difficult to stop the project.

In 1997, Maharashtra government had declared the Konkan region as ecologically sensitive. Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) carried out a study on the coastal ecology in 2011. The report of the study was submitted to the government, highlighting the damage industrialisation of the area would cause to the local life forms.

The West Coast Refinery project is being carried out by three publicly-owned oil companies - Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum. Although no foreign or private sector investment has been declared, Saudi Aramco, a Saudi Arabian petroleum and natural gas company, has expressed interest in investing in the project.