The government’s nuclear agencies were for the first time ever, forced to submit their depositions to the panel of two retired high court judges.
As around 20 fisherfolk, men and women from Sakhri Nate village, situated around the proposed Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project (JNPP) site appeared before a People’s Tribunal for the second day to blow the lid off police atrocities, the government’s nuclear agencies were for the first time ever, forced to submit their depositions to the panel of two retired high court judges.
Justice AP Shah, however, reacted sharply, calling it a “half-hearted attempt” from the government to answer people’s grievances over the JNPP.
“The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) has submitted its deposition to the tribunal, which has no answer to the questions raised by the people. Even Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) has sent large number of documents, but strangely no-one is appearing, in person, before the people’s court and is not ready to face cross-examination,” said Shah.
He added that the documents are related to radiation, health and safety and seemed to be regular brochures. “I have asked the experts to study them and tell us what was not mentioned in the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report,” said Shah. The judges have however, noted that this is the first time that a full-fledged discussion over nuclear energy is taking place in a free environment, which is a good sign.
Amjad Borkar of Maharashtra Macchimar Kruti Samiti, highlighted the discrepancies of the EIA report, alleging that the report has not considered two creeks and 15,000 fisherfolk in the area. “They are not considering us as project-affected peoples (PAPs) only because we do not own land. But once the project starts, we are going to lose our livelihood,” said Borkar.
Among those who presented their deposition before the tribunal were Praful Bidwai, senior journalist; Dr Tushar Chakraborty, senior scientist at Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR); Dr Bhikaji Waghadhare from Madban and local Shiv Sena leader Prakash Waghdhare.
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