Jaitapur: Centre can't impose project on people, says NCP

A day after the Union government said that in-principle approval has been accorded to a site in Maharashtra's Jaitapur for setting up six nuclear power reactors, the Nationalist Congress Party on Friday said the Centre cannot carry out any project forcibly without taking the local population into confidence.

Union minister of state in the department of atomic energy Jitendra Singh had said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha on Thursday that in-principle approval has been accorded to a site in Jaitapur for setting up six nuclear power reactors of 1,650 MW each in technical cooperation with France.

Reacting to it, NCP spokesman and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik said that development and new projects are required, but not without taking locals into confidence.

"The Centre cannot bulldoze any project without taking the local people into confidence. The Jaitapur project was brought by the UPA government, but had to be held back because of the opposition from the local population," he said.

The recent rollback of the three farm laws is an example of what happens when decisions are taken without consulting the stakeholders, Malik added.

Shiv Sena leader and Lok Sabha member from Sindhudurg, Vinayak Raut, told reporters in Delhi that the government's reply in Parliament was technical.

"I have seen this kind of reply at least half a dozen times in the last few years. The local population is against the project which is hazardous and which will impact the entire Konkan coastline," he said.

Raut said that Shiv Sena firmly stands with the locals opposing the project.

"Why do you require nuclear energy in Konkan when the Centre is promoting solar energy. Solar parks can be set up in Konkan," he said.

Shiv Sena and NCP share power in Maharashtra with Congress.