Reviving its opposition to the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project (JNPP), the Shiv Sena on Saturday urged the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre to scrap the 9,900 MW JNPP, keeping in view the sentiments of local people against the project.
A Shiv Sena delegation, led by party’s MP from Sindhudurg-Ratnagiri constituency and its senior Subhash Desai, met Union Minister for Environment and Forests Prakash Javadekar at the State-run Sahyadri guest house and submitted a memorandum, seeking the Centre to scrap the project.In its memorandum, the Shiv Sena stated: “The local people have been opposing the JNPP right from the beginning. Keeping in view of the sentiments of the local people, we would like the Centre to scrap this destructive project”.
The Shiv Sena told the Minister that though the Kasturirangan Committee on Western Ghats visited Jaitapur, it refrained from interacting with the local people opposing the JNPP.
“The Kasturiurangan committee has, in its report, only dwelt with some technical issues based on speculation. Environmental expert Madhav Gadgil had recommended that the ecological report of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) be placed before the village grampanchyat so that it can be implemented with the active participation of the villagers concerned…We are opposed to any such project – that is detrimental to the environmental and tourism interests of coastal kokan region,” the Sena stated in its memorandum.
The State-run Nuclear Power Corporation of India ltd (NPCIl) is setting up 6 nuclear power units of 1,650 MW capacity each in Madban village of Rajapur tehsil in Ratnagiri district of coastal Konkan region in collaboration with the French nuclear power giant AREVA.The Shiv Sena has for the last three years been backing the agitation undertaken against by Konkan Vinashkari Prakalpavir-odhi Samiti, which is spear-heading the agitation against the power project.
In other environmental issues taken up with the minister, the Sena delegation urged Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to give environmental clearance for the coastal road project for Mumbai and to relax CRZ norms to facilitate slum rehabilitation in Mumbai.leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra legislative Council Vinod Tawde of the BJP was also present when the Sena delegation met Javadekar.Javadekar assured the Sena delegates that he would discuss the concerns expressed by them as also the local people about the JNPP in detail with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a decision on the review of the project would be taken subsequently.
The Minister also assured the delegation that environmental issues related to Sahyadris actually covered the whole of Western Ghats and his Ministry would take a decision on the issue of Ecologically Sensitive areas, after taking all the stake holders on board in all the states involved.Meanwhile, Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, his deputy Ajit Pawar, Forest Minister Patangrao Kadam and senior bureaucrats of the Maharashtra government made presentations of environmental related issues before Javdekar.
After the presentations, the minister said the Centre would examine the issues of environment relating to public interest in Maharashtra with due diligence and said his government was committed to environment and development, both.