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Haryana Oppn, activists disrupt hearing on n-plant plan-Nandini Thilak
-The Indian Express

A public hearing for environmental clearance to the proposed Gorakhpur nuclear power plant in Fatehabad district of Haryana came to an abrupt end Tuesday when members of the Opposition INLD led by Abhay Singh Chautala stormed the venue to protest acquisition of land for the plant.

Kuldeep Bishnoi-led members of the Haryana Janhit Congress also reached the venue in support of farmers and activists opposed to the project for which the Haryana government is acquiring 1,500 acres of land, including farm land in Fatehabad district.

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) has planned four pressurised heavy water reactors for 2,800 MW, each generating 700 MW in the energy-hungry state.

“They are totally indigenous and use natural uranium. PHWRs are first stage reactors. The waste generated from the plant will become fuel for fast breeder reactors, the second stage for nuclear power generation in India,” said Sanjay Kumar Gumasta of NPCIL, also the project’s Additional Chief Engineer.

The power plant, he said, will take five years to complete once construction starts.

But activists are drumming up support to oppose the project. An online ‘eminent citizen’s statement’ against the public hearing has been signed by, among others, activists Medha Patkar and Vandana Shiva.

Addressing farmers who had gathered for the public hearing, Chautala attacked the Congress government in the state and said the INLD would start a ‘jail bharo’ campaign if the government pressed ahead with acquisition of land for the project.

Senior NPCIL officials, Fatehabad Deputy Commissioner M L Kaushik and officials of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board were present at the public hearing.

The hearing, which began at 11.30 am, was organised by the Board which will compile a report and submit it to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) for consideration during grant of environmental clearance.

The state plans to acquire 1313 acres in Gorakhpur, 185 acres in adjacent Kajalheri where a residential complex for the plant’s employees is to come up and four acres in Badopal.

“From Wednesday, the District Revenue Officer will begin awarding compensation to those willing to give land for the project. The government has decided on Rs 35 lakh for one acre of land, both farm land and barren. In addition, a sum of Rs 21,000 will be awarded to farmers for every acre per year for a period of 33 years. Additional compensation will be awarded for other structures such as houses, tube wells, trees etc,” said Sahib Godara, District Public Relations Officer of Fatehabad district.

He said land acquisition will go on while the NPCIL seeks clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests for the project. “Acquisition can be cancelled at any time if the project is not granted clearance. The two processes will go side-by-side,” he said.

According to Fatehabad officials, an estimated 1,000 people own the land that will be acquired for the Rs 30,000-crore project.

NPCIL officials sought to allay local fears about the project.

“I have met around 5,000 people personally since 2010. The main concerns are of health effects, effect on the environment. The plant will produce nominal waste which will be reprocessed for use in second-stage fast breeder reactors and the water waste will also be processed and used for industrial purposes. The township where employees like us will live is going to come up close to the plant since we want to assure people about the safety aspect,” Gumasta said.

“The first unit of the plant was initially scheduled to be operational in 2017. Though there has been a delay, we hope to start operations as soon as possible. The second unit will become operational six months after the first and the third and fourth units are expected to be operational by 2021-22,” he said.

Of the power produced by the plant, 50 per cent will go to Haryana, another 15 per cent too can be given to the state while the rest will go to the national grid, he said.

But not everyone wants to give up land. Om Prakash Arya, member of the Kisan Sangarsh Samiti which is opposed to the project, said farmers will fight acquisition of agricultural land.

“The public hearing is immaterial as the main issue is land acquisition. This land belongs to farmers. We raised objections when the acquisition process was initiated. But those have been ignored and they are acquiring the land. We will fight it out,” he said.