Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader Hardik Patel as well as two Congress MlAs — lalit Vasoya and Pratap Dudhat was detained by the police in Rajkot district on Saturday as they along with their supporters tried to stage a protest raising the issue of water pollution in Bhadar River.
Patel, Dhoraji MlA Vasoya and Savarkundla MlA Dudhat and their large number of supporters assembled at Bhukhi village near Jetpur town, known for textile dyeing and printing business nationwide. The protesters alleged that due to release of effluent water of textile dyeing units, water of Bhadar River has become polluted and affecting people’s health.
It was Vasoya who announced earlier that if effluent water of these industrial units would continue to pollute the river, he would take ‘Jal-Samadhi’ (jump into water). As part or precautionary measure, the police reached at the venue of protest and stopped Vasoya and other to take extreme step. Rajkot SP Balram Meena said that Hardik, Vasoya, Dudhat and their 20 supporters were detained and later on released.
Alleging state government’s inaction, Hardik said that people of around 400 villages were suffering from multiple skin as well as water borne deceases due to consumption of polluted water of River Bhadar. He went on to say that the state government was only caring affluent industrialists and supplying them clean water, but ignoring poor villagers.
