Mahuva cries out in Ahmedabad against Nirma

Nearly six-hundred Mahuva villagers protested vociferously, at the Thaltej circle on Thursday, against Nirma’s proposal to establish a cement plant in their taluka; the protesters also denounced Gujarat advocate-general Kamal Trivedi, accusing him of ‘unethical’ conduct.

Those spearheading the movement against Nirma’s proposed plant say that Trivedi’s act of giving a legal opinion to the state government in Nirma’s favour was unprincipled because he appears in the high court for the company. They say he represents Nirma through the firm Trivedi & Gupta in which his wife Shraddha Trivedi is a partner.  

As for the protest, the villagers were led by Dr Kanubhai Kalsariya, the MLA from Mahuva; Chunibhai Vaidya, the chairman of the Gujarat Lok Samiti; Ila Pathak, the samiti’s secretary; and Prakash N Shah. The group formed a humanchain from
the Thaltej circle to the Gujarat high court.

Farmers of 15 different villages located around the area in which Nirma plans to set up the plant expressed their resolve to continue with their agitation till the company dropped the idea.
Later, the villagers and their leaders were detained by the police and sent to the Sola police station, where they were kept for two hours.  However all detainees were treated well by the officials at the police station, and were even served tea.