New Delhi, January 15: The National Fishwoker Forum (NFF) lamented that the Union Environment ministry has given the clearance for the proposed nuclear plant at Haripur in East Midnapore, West Bengal.
While in Kolkatta, Union minister for Environment and Forest Jairam Ramesh, who had a meeting with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee at the Writers’ Building, declared this on Wednesday, 13th January 2010.
NFF action chairman Matanhy Saldanha and general secretary Rambhau Patil recalled that only two days prior to this clearance, they had organized a dharna on January 11 and 12, 2010, in Jantar Mantar, Delhi demanding to bring to a halt this project, amongst other demands.
Though a delegation of NFF had fixed a meeting with Jairam Ramesh to appraise him of the negative impacts of Haripur project on the people, especially fishworkers, they deplored that they could not meet him due to his trip toWest Bengal and other schedules.
They said that NFF joins hands with the Haripur Paramanu Vidyut Prakalpa Prathirodh Andolan (Haripur nuclear power plant resistance movement) in condemning and challenging this decision of the MoEF, in granting environmental clearance to the Haripur Nuclear Power Project. They said that this is not only against the spirit of consulting the affected people, but also against all norms ofenvironmental clearance where this project has been cleared despite the fact that no public hearing was held at the site.
They said that on November 18, 2006, when a team led by S.K.Jain of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL), tried to visit Haripiur to locate the site for setting up anuclear power plant in the area, people of Haripur resisted and stopped them from entering into the area and clearly told the team that they do not want anynuclear power plant.
Since then people of Haripur have been continuously resisting this project. Both Central govt. and State govt. of West Bengal are also aware of the fact that people of the proposed site are protesting and demanding the government not to set up the nuclear plant in the area. Independent studies have been brought to the notice of the governments that have clearly pointed at the negative impact of anuclear power plant on environment and livelihood of thousands of fishworkers and agricultural workers of Haripur and nearby areas.
They said that NFF position is strengthened by the statement of the District Magistrate Ms. C.D. Lama, who told the media on 13th January that “We have no inkling about plans to procure land for the project”. This clearly shows how much the MoEF and the state government have overlooked the local realities in grantingclearance to the project.
Now the project has been given clearance without even identifying land for it or conducting any Environment Impact Assessment study (mandatory for Environmental clearance). It should be remembered here that in 2009, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had signed the agreement on the power plant project against the will of people of the proposed site, they added.
According to Debasis Shyamal, convenor of Haripur Paramanu Vidyut Prakalpa Prathirodh Andolan and National EC member of NFF: “the UPA Government, its allies and the left front Government inWest Bengal will pay a heavy price for this fraud on the people of Haripur”. He said the movement will demand the procedural documents involved in giving this faultyclearance to the project.
“We do not want another Nandigram or Singur in West Bengal and it is our humble request to the Central and state governments to desist from going ahead with the project” added Debasis.
Haripur nuclear Power Plant Resistance movement was initiated by the fishworkers and agricultural workers of Haripur with active support from NFF and its constituent union inWest Bengal – Dakshinbanga Matsyajibi Forum (DBF).
–Agencies