On Thursday, District Collector Prabhakar Deshmukh and Superintendent of police (rural) Vishwas Nangare Patil held a two-hour-long discussion with the villagers. The Bhamchandragarh Bachao Warkari Kisan Sangharsh Samiti has decided to continue the blockade and its members continue taking turns as sentry to prevent vehicles from plying to the site of the company.

Sunil Deukar, one of the gram sabha members who attended the meeting with the bureaucrats told The Indian Express that the villagers would not be convinced till a detailed project report of the R&D centre’s plan of action was assessed by scientists of their choice and till such time will not allow the construction work to be carried out. In the meeting the villagers also expressed their dissatisfaction of the panchayat samiti not being taken into confidence of setting up an R & D site in their area as well as expressed their misgivings about the kind of work would be undertaken in the 100 acre area.

Deshmukh when contacted said that he was hopeful that the villagers would eventually come to an understanding with the company that has been asked to provide a detailed project report assessed with the help of NCL and presented before the villagers.

“We had a long meeting with the villagers and their main concern was about the kind of R & D that was planned. They were also worried about what kind of chemicals will be developed at the research centre. The company will be readying their report which will be presented before the villagers soon,” he said.

Dow Chemical International Pvt Ltd President and CEO and India head Ramesh Ramachandran, in an interaction with the media here on Friday said, “I am saddened by the villagers’ move when we have big plans of putting up their village on the global map. We are willing to wait till they are fully convinced as we want to go in for community development.’’ The company’s Public Affairs Director NY Sanglikar said he had a letter signed by seven villagers on January 26 expressing their consent for the project.