2-Day Stir Against Ethanol Unit Ends As CM Assures To Scrap It

 Adilabad: Hundreds of villagers including women on Wednesday continued their agitation for the second day on NH-61 opposing the setting up of the ethanol factory at Dilawarpur in Nirmal district.

A tense situation prevailed when agitators pelted stones at police, and their vehicles and chased away them. Traffic came to a halt on NH-61 and police diverted the vehicles to other routes.

Hundreds of villagers from Dilwarpur, Gundampalli, and Samunderpelli Thimbereni participated in the protest. Villager’s stir against the ethanol factory entered 130 days Wednesday.

Permissions for the factory were given by the BRS government even though it causes environmental pollution and pollutes fertile land, river Godavari and local wildlife. It is surprising that hundreds of women are at the forefront of the agitation.

The agitators expressed disappointment over political leaders not coming in with their support.

Police resorted to preventive arrests of men to control the agitation. Nirmal SP Janaki Sharmila is monitoring the situation personally. She instructed police to maintain restraint even when agitators chased them away.

A large number of women staged a protest in front of the Dilawarpur police station carrying pesticide bottles demanding the police to release their men arrested on Tuesday night.

Women agitators said they had no faith in collector Abhilasha Abhinav and alleged that she was trying to keep the agitators in the dark in the name of talks and supporting the construction of the factory.

However, the situation changed in the evening with Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s intervention. Late in the evening, the agitators retreated to their villages and celebrated the news that Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy gave instructions to Nirmal collector to stop the construction of the factory.

Agitators appreciated the police who maintained restraint on the direction of the superintendent of police.