Fight over lion fans stir in Gir Somnath

@jiteshtrapasiya

The creation of Gir Somnath by bifurcating Junagadh district, the land of Asiatic lions in Saurashtra, has not gone down well with some in Junagadh, but those falling in the new district are gleeful at the prospect of new possibilities.
Gir Somnath has been created by axing Una, Talala, Kodinar, Veraval and Sutrapada talukas away from Junagadh. However, small-scale protests are going on in Talala to retain Sasan Gir, the headquarters of state forest department which handles lion safaris, and a few other villages in Junagadh.
Even as the Gujarat government is fighting a legal battle against the translocation of lions to Madhya Pradesh, the protesters fear Junagadh will lose its identity if Sasan Gir, a village of Talala taluka, goes to Gir Somnath. Besides the famous Somnath temple, all major industrial complexes and a coastline, measuring 110-kilometre and dotted by eight ports, have already become part of the new district. The cement plant of Ambuja in Kodinar, arguably the biggest industrial establishment in the undivided Junagadh district, is now in Gir Somnath. Similarly, the cement plant of Gujarat Siddhi Cement Limited is also located in Sutrapada taluka. Indian Rayon, a major producer of viscose filament yarn of Aditya Birla Group, is based in Veraval town. Veraval also hosts a number of sea-food processing units.
However, without Gir forests as its part, the nomenclature of the new district will sound somewhat irrelevant. Local Congress MLA Jashubhai Barad is also against dividing Talala. "There is politics behind these protests. Those protesting the annexation of Sasan Gir, Bhalchhel, Haripur, Hiranvel and Bhojde villages into Gir Somnath are demanding not to divide Gir and Girnar. However, the residents of these villages want to be part of the new district and they are also demanding that Gir can't be taken away from them. So, the entire Talala taluka has to be with Gir Somnath," Barad says.