While Nilesh Patel of the Vadodara Pradushan Nivaran Samiti (Vadpran) and Rohit Prajapati of Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti claimed many villagers had developed ulcers on their legs, a GSFC spokesman said the eight villagers treated had had long-standing skin problems.

A morcha of villagers led by Patel and Prajapati met Additional General Manager M J Vaidya at the company gate on Sunday to contested the GSFC's press statements that relief work had been launched on a war-footing. They complained that except the construction of a wall, everything else was moving at a snail's pace.

``Only about 40 per cent of the village clean-up has started; the streets still have the muck while sand is yet to be spread over a major part of the Saurashtra Society'', Prajapati said, expressing surprise that the villagers were not being given medicines but only handed over prescriptions, indicating that they should buy them themselves.

The GSFC spokesman agreed that this was the case but assured, ``We will reimburse each and every medical bill.''

Patel and Prajapati said it was unfair of the industrial giant to give villagers prescriptions and to expect them to preserve them for reimbursement. ``Since the entire problem had occurred because of the GSFC, they should arrange for the medicines,'' they said.

While M J Vaidya was not available for comments, the spokesman felt the villagers were underplaying ``the GSFC's efforts to sort out the issue by prompt action''. The Samitis, meanwhile, are learnt to have sought District Collector Anil Mukim's intervention as well.

The collector told Express Newsline that he had already spoken to GSFC managing director Gurcharan Singh on the issue.