Uddhav Thackeray to visit Barsu village on May 6

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray to visit Barsu village in the state’s coastal Ratnagiri district where thousands of villagers have been protesting against a proposed petrochemical refinery project on Saturday.

Addressing the Vajramuth rally Monday, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray asserted, Barsu is not Pakistan-occupied Kashmir or Bangladesh. I will go there and no one can stop me. He announced that he will visit Barsu on May 6 (Saturday). I had suggested Barsu as an optional site for the refinery. But I had not suggested to charge lathis, fire tear gas or bullets on the villagers and set up a refinery there, Thackeray said.

Meanwhile, BJP leader and Union Minister Narayan Rane and his sons Nilesh and Nitesh will also visit Barsu on Saturday and meet villagers supporting the refinery project. Uddhav will meet the protesters and later head to Mahad in Raigad where he will address a party rally on Saturday evening, Indian Express reported.

Last week, the protest against the proposed petrochemical refinery escalated when villagers attempted to forcibly enter the survey site. In response, the police fired tear gas and lathi charges to disperse the crowd, which resulted in several villagers sustaining injuries. Subsequently, over 200 villagers who managed to enter the site, where soil testing for one of the country's largest petrochemical refinery projects is underway, were detained and transported to Ratnagiri.