RAJKOT: An RTI (Right to Information Act) applicant was attacked on Sunday in Thordi village in Savarkundla taluka of Amreli district. According to sources, Narshibhai Malani, a resident of Thordi, was allegedly attacked by the owner of a stone crushing unit, Mahesh Khuman, on Sunday morning. Narshibhai was rushed to a government hospital after the attack. Malani has registered a case against Khuman with Savarkundla taluka police station.
According to sources, Malani and some other villagers had been complaining about pollution created by the stone crushing unit, affecting the nearby farms over the last few years. “We have sent repeated complaints against the unit to concerned departments including chief minister Narendra Modi, but in vain.
Malani, 70, also filed an application using RTI. He was attacked by Khuman on Sunday at around 7 am when he was passing through his farm where the crushing unit is located and got into a verbal quarrel with Khuman.
“It was revealed that unit has not been following the rules laid down by the government and in fact, the lease of mining was also expired,” claimed Jagdish Bhalala, a farmer of Thordi village.
Bhalala is one of those who blame the crushing unit for making life miserable due to dust spread into their farms by the unit.
“Farmers have been suffering huge economic losses as they are unable to harvest the crops due to the pollution and mining by nearby units. However, the government has not given any attention to the farmers’ issue. We are planning to approach the court in this regard,” said Bhikhabhai Jethva, father of slain RTI activist Amit Jethva and now RTI activist himself.
“Farmers like Malani are demanding for their rights from the government but mafias have syndicate with government officials,” Jethva alleged.
Courtesy: THE TIMES OF INDIA
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