In an effort to blunt opposition to the controversial Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project (JNPP) from the local people, the Maharashtra Government on Saturday announced that it would disburse enhanced compensation among the affected farmers for the land acquired from them for the project by October 15.
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan made the announcement after he held talks with activists of the Janhit Seva Samiti (JSS), Madban, which had in the past spear-headed the agitation against the 9,900 MW JNPP at the State-run Sahyadri Guest House here. The talks came on the heels of negotiations that State Industries Minister Narayan Rane had with the agitating activists, who have now softened their stand on the JNPP.
The State-run Nuclear Power Corporation of India ltd (NPCIl) is setting up 6 nuclear power units of 1650 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 Chief Minister said the Maharashtra Government had already paid land value and enhanced compensation amounting to the tune of Rs 50 crore to 312 account holders out of a total 2,236 project-affected farmers “The remaining farmers or their legal heirs would be compensated adequately by October 15,” Chavan said.
“Through the special cell created at the district level, we are collating information about the legal heirs of the land that is being acquired for the JNPP. The enhanced compensation would be handed to the remaining land owners or their legal heirs by October 15,” the Chief Minister said. Similarly, the Chief Minister assured the JSS delegation that the State Government would withdraw all cases - except the serious ones - registered against its activists during various protests against the JNPP in the past.
Chavan also said that the State Government would undertake a qualitative rehabilitation programme for the project-affected people. Apart from the Chief Minister, prominent among the officials present at the State Government’s meeting with the JSS delegation were: Industry Minister Narayan Rane, Guardian Minister of Ratnagiri District Uday Samant, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Amitabh Rajan, Additional Secretary of Department of Atomic Energy C B S Venkataraman and NPCIl Chairman and Managing Director K C Purohit.
Chavan’s announcement came within days of Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray’s statement that the opposition to the 9,900 MW JNPP from the local people had not faded as was being made out by the State Government and that his party would revive the agitation against the power project.
Uddhav had said he would visit the affected villages in the next few days to interact with the project-affected farmers and also address a farmers’ rally in Ratnagiri at a later stage. Uddhav’s assertion had come in the wake of news reports that Rane had struck a deal with one of the influential activist groups opposing the JNPP, leading to a split among the agitating villagers.
Reports had said the JSS, led by Pravin Gavankar, had agreed to accept the enhanced compensation offered to the Project-Affected People (PAP) by the State Government. As per the revised package, the PAP would now get Rs 22.5 lakh per hectare instead of the earlier Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 4.5 lakh per hectare. Upset by the reduced resistance to the JNPP, the Shiv Sena - which had all along supported the villagers in their agitation against the JNPP - is now contemplating to revive the agitation.