Jairam Ramesh refuses to rethink Jaitapur power plant

Despite local environmentalists and major political parties expressing concerns over Jaitapur’s 9,900 megawatt nuclear power plant, Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday refused to review the conditional environmental clearance given to the project. He even asked “interest groups” not to use environment as a platform to take potshots at the government.

“As far as environment clearance is concerned, we have done all that is required,” Ramesh told the media in New Delhi. Reacting strongly to issues raised by opposition parties, Jairam said the project is being politicised by the opposition parties, who are unhappy over the India-US nuclear deal. “There are political parties which have never agreed with the fact that our prime minister has concluded the most successful civil nuclear agreement, of which Jaitapur is the first plant,” the minister said.

His comments came in the backdrop of senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha and CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat demanding a re-look into the conditional environmental clearance given to the nuclear plant, noting that it has created a “great deal of disquiet” among locals as well as others across the country.

The ministry last month accorded clearance to the project slated to come up in Ratnagiri district of the state. The plant will be set up by state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) in collaboration with France’s Areva group.

Local fishermen are protesting the location of the plant, fearing they would not be allowed to carry out fishing in the area for security reasons. An impact assessment report by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has strongly criticised the nuclear power plant being proposed at Jaitapur in the Konkan region.

The report has indicated that the project — which requires about 968 hectares of land panning five villages — will have a huge negative impact on the social as well as environmental development of not just these villages and the surrounding areas, but also on the Konkan region in general.

The findings of the report also show that the Jaitapur nuclear power complex is located in a high to moderate severity earthquake zone and the ecologically sensitive coastal region, which includes Raigad, Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri districts.

A six-member panel appointed by the state government also visited Jaitapur on Wednesday to assess the situation at the site.