Davkhare, who has joined the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party, said that the writ petition will be filed soon. He has alleged that the BSES project will further add to pollution in the area, already highly polluted by automic power stations at the Tarapur and Bhoisar industrial estates. The BSES project will also affect the fishing activity of locals severely, Davkhare said.

According to him, the commissioning of this project will violate the provisions of the Coastal Regulatory Zone Act and displace many villagers leading to unemployment. The previous experience on this front during the implementation of the 500mw thermal power project by BSES at Dahanu was not encouraging, he said.

The Neeri study on the impact of the proposed project has made somestartling revelations, he said. Even though former chief minister Manohar Joshi had announced that the state government would not sanction the project at Kelwe, the Thane district collector has begun acquisition of the 183 hectares required for this project, he said.

Davkhare said that the state minister Manisha Nimkar (Shiv Sena), who represents the Palghar constituencyy, has opposed the project and taken out processions. He said that discontent is brewing against the project, which will turn into a major agitation in that area.

Davkhare said that he had appealed to the Chief Minister Narayan Rane and deputy chief minister Gopinath Munde not to take a hasty decision.