Even as he faced flak for giving clearance to a nuclear power plant in Jaitapur in Maharashtra, environment minister Jairam Ramesh today pitched for power plants in coastal areas.
Even as he faced flak for giving clearance to a nuclear power plant in Jaitapur in Maharashtra, environment minister Jairam Ramesh today pitched for power plants in coastal areas.
"India must get used to get power plants being located in coastal areas. The requirement of water, the requirement of imported coals or imported gas or even imported uranium fuel will necessiate the location power plants particularly in our coastal locations," he said.
Justifying his ministry's decision to give conditional clearance to set up a nuclear power plant in Jaitapur, Ramesh quipped "we have not yet invented a power plant that hangs up in the air".
He said all power plants in the country are preceded by comprehensive and accumulative Environmental Impact Assesment.
"In the case of the western part for example, while giving the clearance for the Jaitapur nuclear complex, we have very clearly stipulated that you must have a comprehensive environment impact assesment and an accumulative environment impact assesment," the minister said while announcing a new Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification.
In a strong reply to the political parties and the environmentalists who oppose the 9900 MW Jaitapur Nuclear power project, the minister said "if you can't locate power plants near forest areas, because forest areas will be denoted... and if you can't locate power plants at the coastal areas because coastal areas are about to be denoted... we have not yet invented a power plant that hangs up in the air."
"I am sure, some states can discover that, in which case there's no need for an environment impact assesment," he added.
He underlined that CRZ notification, 2011, is a very important objective to generate economic activity in coastal areas "because there are some economic activities that are pumped to be located in the coastal areas."
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