Villagers set afire bus in Rasegaon

Nashik, Nov 22 (UNI) Tension prevailed in Rasegaon village of Dindori taluka of the district this evening as the villagers set afire a bus carrying workers of a chemical company in the area.

The situation became tense for some time in Rasegaon village of Dindori taluka of the district today when villagers from the town set afire a bus of a pesticide company in the area. The bus was carrying 16-17 night shift workers into the company. Some of them were injured in the incident.

On August 13, chemical waste from the company diluted with the water of Palkhed dam, making the water hazardous for drinking. As a precautionary measure, the water supply to 20 villages was cut off.

The district administration took action against the company under section 133 of the CrPc. The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board had also conducted inquiry into the matter. The district administration had given orders to the company to vacate the premises till October 31.

The production in the company has been closed but the effluent treatment work is on and it will require some time to completely destroy the effluent.

''The company administration has stay orders against action by the district administration as well as the MPCB. We don't have anything illegal. Besides this, we took the villagers as well as the officials into confidence. We held a meeting with the villagers on November 12 and assured them that we will do nothing against their will. Despite this, today's incident happened. Some miscreants are trying to gain disadvantage of the issue. We will lodge a complaint demanding action against this,'' Dr Milind Kolhe, MD, of the company told UNI today.

Meanwhile, strict police vigil has been kept in the area and the situation is under control now.

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