Twitter
Advertisement

'DNA' investigations: Mining near N-site didn’t cease till '05

India Cements was mining limestone 3km from the KKNPP site when excavation work for the plant began in 2001.

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) is mired in controversy now, but even work on the project began by violating Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) guidelines prohibiting mining activity within 5km of a nuclear power plant. India Cements was mining limestone 3km from the KKNPP site when excavation work for the plant began in 2001.

Though AERB stipulated that mining must end by 1994, the activity continued till November 2005 in an area comprising 219.975 hectares in Kudankulam village, according to documents with DNA.

Clearance for excavation work for the power plant was given in October 2001 "subject to compliance of stipulations like restriction on surface mining of limestone within exclusion and sterilised zone". However, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) claims there was no violation of AERB guidelines as the board allowed surface scraping in March 2002 after construction work on the KKNPP began. "Since then, periodic inspection has been carried out to ensure the safety of the plant," the NPCIL said in its official response.

Though mining activities were going on in the region for over a decade before work on KKNPP began, they found no mention in the environment impact assessment carried out by the National Environmental Engineering and Research Institute for units 1 & 2 and in the expert committee's report later. The committee was formed last year to address safety issues related to KKNPP. "No mining activity is carried out by KKNPP," the panel’s report said. 

"Since when did KKNPP become a mining company?" wondered activist Ravi Kumar, a resident of Kudankulam. "Despite AERB's inspections twice a year of the KKNPP site to verify compliance with regulatory requirements, none of the government reports mentions the mining activity."

It was only when the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) raised the issue that the government admitted that mining by India Cements continued even after work on KKNPP began.

The latest report by the expert committee said India Cements was allowed to carry out mining activities considering the advanced technology adopted by it. However, when KKNPP was cleared in 1989, the AERB stipulated that mining must end by 1994. "Arrangements must be made to terminate the lease of the limestone quarry in 1994," said a clearance letter, which is in DNA's possession.

India Cements said the latest technology of surface scraping using a surface miner would be deployed to ensure that the topography remained intact and the atmosphere remained free of pollution. "With the use of these machines, limestone quarrying could be carried out without drilling and blasting," the expert committee's report said. The permission was granted in violation of AERB stipulations while sanctioning KKNPP.

Independent experts said mining should not have been allowed in the region as the KKNPP site is a possible Karst region - a vulnerable landscape. Geographical events that took place after 1998 and other reports prove that the place can turn into a Karst region. Karst is a special landscape formed by the dissolution of soluble rocks and is most vulnerable to natural hazards.

"Had the NPCIL known that the crust over which KKNPP is located has thinned out, it would not have allowed mining activity in the region at all," said Dr R Ramesh, who has written a book on the geology of Kudankulam. However, the NPCIL was adamant. "Since it is just a surface-scraping activity instead of mining involving blasting or drilling, it is not a matter of concern," it said.

Land for the Kudankulam project was acquired by the Tamil Nadu government. A government order (GO) issued to this effect in 1991 laid down conditions to be followed within 5km of the proposed plant. The GO granted permission to India Cements to continue with its mining operations till the lease expired in 1994 or when work on the project began, whichever was earlier.

When infrastructure work related to KKNPP began in 1993-94, India Cements sought permission to continue quarrying limestone. The department of atomic energy (DAE) issued a "no-objection certificate" to the state government in 1996, stipulating that only surface mining should be carried out in the areas identified within the plant boundary.

The mining lease was extended for five years by the state government in 1999 with conditions that collection of limestone must be done by surface scraping only and that India Cements must vacate the area when required by the DAE.

After the five-year period ended, India Cements made another request to continue its mining operations. It got an extension for a year following NPCIL's request to the AERB. The mining operations ceased in November 2005.

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement