Jaitapur nuclear plant protests intensify
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COMMENTS 
An Indo-French agreement to set up two of six nuclear power reactors at Jaitapur in Maharashtra has recently been signed. But local people whose lands will be taken away say they have refused to accept government compensation, and protests are growing about the environmental and health effects of the plants
No one wants a nuclear plant in their backyard, but the inhabitants of Madban village, in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district, are being ordered to put up with one or move out altogether to make way for the 9,900 MW Jaitapur nuclear power plant.
Protests from local communities, environmentalists and NGOs intensified ahead of the signing of an agreement between the French company Areva and the Indian government-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL), on December 7, 2010. NPCIL will build the first two of six nuclear reactors in Jaitapur, each of which will supply 1,650 MW of electricity.
The nuclear project received the green signal from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, on December 5, 2010, which has imposed 35 stringent environmental conditions for the plant to become operational. Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said in an interview that he knew that environmentalists would not be happy with his decision, but that it was “foolish romance” to think that India could attain “high growth rate and sustain the energy needs of a 1.2 billion population with the help of solar, wind, biogas and other such forms of energy”.
Approval from other sectors, though, has not been forthcoming. Questions have been raised by the scientific community itself, by none other than former chairman of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, A Gopalakrishnan, on the wisdom of India opting for a reactor design that was “unproved and plagued by delays and cost overruns”.
More vocal protests are coming from civil society for locating the plant in a populated area, posing both a risk to local people as well as displacing many with no viable rehabilitation plan in place.
A big protest march was held in Madban village on December 4, 2010; between 800 and 1,500 protesters were arrested by the police, among them former high court judge B G Kolse-Patil.
The Konkan Vinashkari Prakalpa Virodhi Samiti (KVPVS) and the Janahit Seva Samiti are spearheading the agitation. The Shiv Sena has jumped in and declared its opposition to the project; other political parties remain undecided. The BJP has formed a committee under a scientist from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre to study the implications of the project, and social reformer Anna Hazare has pledged his support if people are to be displaced and safety and environment issues are not addressed. In Mumbai, members of various trade unions and social organisations came together to protest against the project.
KVPVS claims that 99% of farmers oppose the project. NPCIL is said to have so far acquired 938.026 hectares from five villages in the area. However, only 33 of the 2,335 villagers have accepted their compensation cheques, according to newspaper reports.
In April 2010, Shashikant Keshav Joshi, a resident of Karel, one of the affected villages, filed a public interest litigation in the Bombay High Court alleging that his land had been forcibly acquired, that the site of the project was earthquake-prone, and that the location of the plant posed a security threat.
Joshi said he was offered Rs 25 lakh as compensation for 47 hectares of land, but that he had refused it.
At a public hearing in Madban village, in May 2010, around 600 objections were filed with the authorities. But, says KVPVS, the report on the public hearings has not been made available even after a request was made under the right to information.
Apart from land acquisition issues, the effects of radiation on the health of people living near nuclear power plants is a matter of concern. It is unclear where or how the radioactive waste emanating from the site will be dumped. It is estimated that the plant will generate around 300 tonnes of waste each year.
Since the plant will use sea water for steam generation and then release hot water into the Arabian Sea, fishermen in villages nearby are predicting the destruction of fisheries in the area.
A recently released preliminary report on the diversity of Maharashtra’s coastal marine ecosystem, by the Bombay Natural History Society, says the sheer scale of development along the narrow but ecologically important Konkan coast needs to be looked into in totality. There are at least 15 proposed coal-fired power projects which are set to be built, with their ancillary industries, besides new mining and coastal tourism projects.
Proponents of nuclear power argue that it is the best way to meet India’s increasing electricity needs, being a sustainable energy source that reduces carbon emissions and increases energy security by decreasing India’s dependence on foreign oil.
There are already 20 nuclear plants functioning at six locations in the country, generating 2.9% of the electricity. The Jaitapur project will push that up to 13%, by 2030.
Source: The Pioneer, December 9, 2010
DNA, December 7, 2010
The Hindu, December 4, 2010, and November 28, 2010