Sena protests against Jaitapur N-power plant

GENERATION GAP

CM DEVENDRA FADNAVIS SAID THE PROJECT WAS THE NEED OF THE HOUR AND PEOPLE’S MINDSETS HAD TO BE CHANGED

MUMBAI: A day after the IndoFrench deal was struck to kickstart the Jaitapur nuclear power plant in Maharashtra, ruling BJP’s ally Shiv Sena expressed its displeasure and said it would continue to oppose the project as the people of the area were against it.

The project is coming up in Ratnagiri district in coastal Konkan region of Maharashtra.

On Saturday, party MP Sanjay Raut said the Konkan people were opposing the project and his party was just representing them.

“We are not against nuclear power, we are for it, but not at the cost of human lives. There is possibility of destruction of ecology. The direct impact of radiation may afflict locals with diseases such as cancer. Let the PM sign the agreement with the French government, we will continue to oppose the project,” Raut said.

The Shiv Sena had made the Jaitapur project an election issue last year and had promised the people that the project would be scrapped after the party is voted to power. Sena is also unhappy because it was not taken into confidence over the deal.

The BJP, however, made it clear that the project would go ahead as planned. On Saturday, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said the project was the need of the hour and the mindset of the people opposing it needs to be changed.

Fadnavis on Saturday said, “Nuclear safety and clean nuclear energy is the need of the hour. It is not yet clear what the agreement is and what would be the repercussions of it. But we should believe that the PM would think and act in the interest of the nation,” he said.

The plant will have six reactors of 1,650 MW each, with the consolidated capacity of 9,900 MW to become the largest nuclear power plant in the world.