People affected by the proposed 9,000MW nuclear power plant at Jaitapur in Ratnagiri have decided to continue their protests against the project.
People affected by the proposed 9,000MW nuclear power plant at Jaitapur in Ratnagiri have decided to continue their protests against the project. They have refused to accept compensation offered for their land, even if it was at the prevailing market rate. State’s power minister Ajit Pawar had made an assurance to the farmers in the assembly that they would be paid compensation at the current market price.
“We have never approached any MLA or minister to ask for compensation. On the contrary, we do not want this project at all. Why is the government and minister (Pawar) making such statements in the assembly?” said Satyajit Chavan, Mumbai co-ordinator of the Konkan Vinashkari Prakalp Virodhi Samiti on Thursday. Chavan added that during the public hearing of the project, 600 objections against the project were submitted, but the hearing’s final report has still not been made public.
“Who has told Ajit Pawar that we need more money for our land or even jobs? We do not. We do not want the nuclear plants on our land,” said Premanand Tiwarkar, who owns land in Madban, which is poised to house six European pressurized water reactors.
Even the opposition accused the government and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) for illegally acquiring lands, when the project has not been sanctioned by the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF).
Shashikant Joshi, 73, who owns 47 hectares land in Karel where he has mango orchards and cashew trees, also refused the offer of Rs25 lakh for his plot, which now he claims has been taken away forcefully from him. Joshi has filed a PIL in the Bombay high court primarily challenging forceful acquisition of his land. “The minister talks about compensation in the assembly, and at the same time the land has been acquired without giving any compensation,” said MR Sabnis, counsel for Joshi.
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