KNPP: People's safety must not be compromised, says SC

The Supreme Court on Tuesday made it clear to the government that all safety measures for handling disaster must be put in place at the Kudankulam power plant before it is operationalised saying there can be no compromise on it.

A bench of justices K S Radhakrishanan and Deepak Misra also asked the government to submit disaster management plan before it and directed the Tamil Nadu government to carry out mock drills covering all the 40 villages situated within 16 kilometre radius of the plant.

"There must be no compromise on safety and rehabilitation. We are making it absolutely clear that all the guidelines and safety measures for handling disaster must be put in place before the plant is commissioned," the bench said.

"If you do not put safety measures then we have to pass order," it said directing the state government to file affidavit on how it would ensure safety of the people in case of any disaster occurring in the plant.

The bench asked the state government to be 'serious' on the safety issue and directed it to conduct mock drills in the villages on a regular basis.

"Mock drill for handling any kind of disaster has to be done before commissioning of the plant. It must be done in all villages and it must be repeated after every two years," the bench said, adding, "All 40 villages have to be part of the disaster management scheme".

"You file affidavit on what you have done or propose to do under disaster management plan for general public safety," the bench said.

The court was hearing a bunch of petitions filed by anti-nuclear activists challenging commissioning of the plant on the ground that all the safety measures have not been put in place.