Now, Jaitapur activists join ‘comic’ war

A comic book for a comic book will make the whole world clear-eyed, feel activists who have been opposing the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project (JNPP).

Unlike the NPCIL’s version that aims to preach the benefits of nuclear power plants, activists say theirs will not contain half-truths but will instead be based on ground realities.

The name of the comic book is yet to be decided, but the story will be set in a period 25 years after a nuclear power project has come to a village. “Our book will tell the story of what happens once the plant has come up. All the characters will be the same, only 25 years older,” said Satyajit Chavan of the Konkan Vinashkari Prakalp Virodhi Samiti.

He added that there needs to be a reality check. “People who have been promised jobs will not get them; assurances in the compensation package will not be kept; and the dreams of good housing will not be realised. This is what has happened in places like Tarapur. You can call it a true story in comic form,” said Chavan.

Advocating nuclear power, the NPCIL’s comic book (titled ‘Ek Tha Budhiya: Kahani Ek Khushal Gaon Ki’) raises questions about how a solar power plant will generate electricity when there is no sun. “This is why we say the book doesn’t show the whole picture,” said Advait Pedanekar of the Konkan Bachao Samiti (KBS). “I am sure they know about concentrated solar power, whereby salts are melted at high temperatures during the day and the vapour of the molten salt is used to run a turbine and generate electricity at night.”