Mahuva farmers not satisfied with govt response on Nirma issue

A group of over 5000 agitating farmers from Bhavnagar district led by the local leaders submitted a memorandum to the state chief minister Narendra Modi today demanding the cancellation of permission given to Nirma Limited for setting up a cement plant and power plant near Mahuva.

The farmers had taken out a protest march from Mahuva on March 3 and reached Gandhinagar today travelling a distance of over 350 km. However, after meeting the chief minister, the leaders expressed dissatisfaction about the government's responce to their demands.

Kanubhai Kalsaria, local MLA of the ruling BJP led the rally and the agitation against the proposed plant. "We told the chief minister to remove Nirma from Mahuva. The government should cancel the lease given to the company and return the land to the owner farmers. But the chief minister gave no assurance for our representation. He, however, said that the government will take all actions that will be in the interest of the people. But we are hopeful to get justice," said Kalsaria after meeting the chief minister at the state assembly complex in Gandhinagar.

Meanwhile, Modi told the delegation that government of Gujarat had always worked for the interest of the farmers. It was due to the government’s agricultural policies during the last one decade that Gujarat registered the country’s highest growth rate of 9.6 per cent in the agriculture sector, he informed the delegation.

Further, the chief minister also informed that since the matter is sub-judice, the government will decide the future course of action as per the process of law.

Kalsaria expressed his satisfaction over the MoEF notice issued to the company for stoppage of construction activity last week. "The Nature came to our rescue in the form of union government by issuing a notice to the company. Now, since the matter is with the supreme court, we have decided to end our rally here in Gandhinagar today," he said adding that he would continue the agitation against the government policy of promoting industries and will spread awareness among the state farmers for the same. "We will definitely reach out to the farmers and people of the sea-belt of the Saurashtra to make them aware about the mis-use of their land by the industries," said the MLA.

The farmers from Mahuva have been agitating the allocation of land to Nirma for their proposed cement plant for a period of over 4 years as the state government had allocated a land, which has a reservoir and catchment area spread over 268 hectares. Nirma has proposed a 1.91 MTPA cement plant with 50 MW captive power plant and 1.5 Lakh TPA coke oven, on coastal belt of Mahuva Taluka in Bhavnagar district of Gujarat.