Shiv Sena opposes Jaitapur nuclear project

Shiv Sena today expressed its opposition to the ambitious nuclear power project at Jaitapur in coastal Maharashtra and said the party would continue with its stand on the issue. "The local populace is opposed to Jaitapur project and it is the demand of the Shiv Sena that this destructive project be scrapped," Shiv Sena group leader in Legislative Assembly Subhash Desai said.

A Sena delegation led by Desai met Union Minister for Environment and Forests Prakash Jawadekar here this afternoon and submitted a memorandum on various environmental issues pertaining to coastal Konkan and Mumbai region. "Shiv Sena also opposes the entry of mining industry in Konkan," Desai said. The CRZ norms should be relaxed and coastal road for Mumbai be given environmental clearance, the Sena delegation told the minister.

Sena president Uddhav Thackeray had also recently expressed his party's opposition to Jaitapur project, saying "If the project is so good then any state in the country can take it and Maharashtra will buy power from it." The project with six reactors, each with a capacity of 1650 MW, is coming up in the coastal district of Ratnagiri and has faced a stiff resistance from locals. 

Shiv Sena candidate Vinayak Raut defeated Congress sitting MP and Industries Minister Narayan Rane's son Nilesh Rane from the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha seat and got a significant lead in the Rajapur assembly segment, where the project is coming up.