Bengal on priority list for nuclear power plant
Monday, 20 November 2006, 18:30 IST
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Kolkata: West Bengal could be the site for eastern India's first nuclear power plant with a central committee recommending Haripur in coastal East Midnapore district as a possible location, an announcement which has already evoked protests by villagers there. "We have found that Haripur has good potential for setting up a nuclear plant," Nuclear Power Corporation of India chairman S.K. Jain said after meeting Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya at Writers' Buildings. Jain is also chairman of the site selection committee, which decided upon Haripur in Contai, about 200 km from here. The chief minister said the committee liked Haripur the most but "we have to convince people about the need for the plant and that there is nothing to fear". Besides Bengal, the 12-member committee has visited Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. "We are scouting for sites for nuclear power plants in coastal areas as part of the centre's policy. Haripur was selected as a 'candidate site'," an official of Nuclear Power Corporation was quoted by media. "A study will now have to be carried out to ensure the proposed plant would not be set up on declared forest land and would not disturb marine fauna. Whether the nearest port at Haldia has the capacity to handle heavy machinery and equipment has to be assessed too besides the compensation package for the families," the official said. Once this is done, a report will be sent to the Atomic Energy Commission for approval and then to the Prime Ministers Office (PMO). "The PMO will take the final decision in consultation with the state government," the official said. But residents of Haripur are already protesting. The opposition Trinamool Congress has also joined the protest. About 4,000 families in Majlapur, Rangmalapur, Samraibari and Mankaraipur villages, mostly from the fishermen community, fear eviction.
Source: IANS
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