Locals still opposed to Jaitapur nuclear project: Uddhav Thackeray

Rubbishing the claim by Industries Minister Narayan Rane that local groups opposing the 9,900 MW nuclear power project at Jaitapur in coastal Maharashtra had now relented, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Monday said they were still against the project.

"He (Rane) has this habit of making hollow claims. From the information available so far, villagers are still opposed to the project," Uddhav said. The Sena chief was speaking to reporters after inaugurating a renovated civic hospital in suburban Kandivli this afternoon.

The state government recently decided to increase the compensation for the Project-Affected People (PAP), which has created a split among the agitating villagers.

A group of leaders from Janhit Seva Samiti, which had been opposed to the project for the last seven years, announced that they will not protest anymore. This group is led by Pravin Gavankar, who had spearheaded the anti-nuclear project movement among locals earlier.

Rane, after meeting them, had said the activists had now softened their stand, and the work will move ahead soon.

The Sena has been supporting the villagers opposing the project.

As per the revised package, the PAP would now get Rs 22.5 lakh per hectare instead of the earlier Rs1 lakh to Rs4.5 lakh per hectare.

The early works contract was signed between Nuclear Power Corporation and the French company Areva for the initial supply of two evolutionary pressurised reactors (EPRs) of 1,650 MW each in December 2010.