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Ajit Pawar: Jaitapur project will not affect Konkan people

Staff Reporter

MUMBAI: “The people of Konkan, including the fisher folk, will not be imperilled due to the proposed Jaitapur nuclear power plant in the region and safety concerns in the wake of the recent disaster in Japan are being addressed at the national level,” Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar told the State Legislative Council on Friday during the ongoing budget session.

He was replying to a range of issues related to compensation and security raised by Council members.

Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) chairperson Srikumar Banerjee “will be studying the incident in Japan after which he will inspect the reactors in India for safety and make necessary changes, if required. There is top political and scientific focus on this. The Prime Minister himself is looking into this aspect. There is local opposition [to Jaitapur] and a different kind of discussion has started after the incident in Japan. Caution is being taken so that the local people will not be harmed in any way,” Mr. Pawar said.

He said damage to the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichii plant was caused by the tsunami and not the earthquake. “Jaitapur is located at a height of 25 metres or 75 feet above sea level, whereas the height of tsunami waves across the world has been between 20 and 30 feet. As for earthquakes, there are five [seismic] zones and Jaitapur falls in zone three. Japan, on the other hand, has zones from one to nine,” he said.

Compensation

On the issue of compensation, Mr. Pawar said the total number of affected persons was 2,335. The compensation amount of over Rs. 1.11 crore has been distributed among 131 affected persons. Investment in the project is Rs. 1 lakh crore.

“The government is also thinking of increasing the compensation amount. A proposal to that effect is awaiting the Chief Minister's approval. People's satisfaction is the first priority. One should not protest for the sake of it,” he remarked.

Congress MLC Hussain Dalwai said he refused to believe the fisher community had nothing to lose, despite assurances from scientists. Seeking clarification on the safety of locals, another Congress MLC Bhai Jagtap said the residences of officials and scientists were being planned at a distance of 25 km from the Jaitapur plant.

Mr. Pawar replied that concerns were raised over the Tarapur power station, but no harm had been caused to the environment at this site. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India had selected the Jaitapur site after surveying locations from “Kashmir to Kanyakumari.”

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena leader Subhash Desai said in the Assembly that the Rajapur-Jaitapur belt had experienced 92 tremors in the last 20 years. Moreover, Germany's Commerzbank had pulled out of the Jaitapur project and France, whose Areva reactors are going to be used in the plant, “has opined that Japan cannot control the nuclear accident.”

“When the whole world is saying this, why are we going ahead with Jaitapur? The government presented only one side [of the picture] through the lecture by [former AEC chief]] Anil Kakodkar. Why not call [A] Gopalakrishnan [also former AEC chief] to give the other side,” Mr. Desai said.

Eknath Khadse, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, sought clarifications from the government in light of Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh's statement that additional safeguards would be considered for Jaitapur.

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