Locals halt survey for atomic power station in Madhya Pradesh

Setting up of a multi-crore atomic power station in Madhya Pradesh hit a roadblock, with the locals of the Chutka area stalling the survey work for the project in tribal-dominated Mandla district, officials said.
    
A survey team sent by Madhya Pradesh Power Generating Company Limited (MPPGCL), the nodal agency of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), for setting up the proposed 1400 Mega Watt (MW) power project had to return last week unfinished following locals' resistance, MPPGCL executive director (Civil) A Shekhar said.
    
He said things will turn favourable for the survey once the locals were convinced that the project was not detrimental to their interest.

The locals demanded that the administration should hold talks with them in connection with the proposed 1400 mw atomic power station.

"We are holding talks with Mandla district administration officials and as soon as the situation turns conducive we are going to restart the survey work," Shekhar said.

"We have already organised a gram sabha (village meeting) at Chutka, after we came to know that the survey team had to return following locals objections," Mandla Collector KK Khare said.
    
He said that the locals were not opposed to the atomic power station, but they were being instigated by other people around with vested-interest.

"Believe me the locals of Chutka to be affected by the project will first get well-built houses and handsome compensation thereafter they will be asked to vacate their kuchcha places," Khare said.
   
The project won't pose any health problem for the locals at all, the Collector said.
   
He said that only small portion of area inhabited by locals was coming under the atomic project, adding it includes three villages with a population of 1800.
   
Khare said that the project will come up in an area of 2400 hectares which was mainly government land.
   
NPCIL is likely to invest Rs 14000 crore in the atomic project, an official said.