The much-awaited report of the site-specific study to ascertain the presence of an undersea volcano in the Bay of Bengal off Puducherry coast has been completed and submitted to the Department of Atomic Energy’s Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited (BHAVINI).
The study was conducted by the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research - National Geophysical Research Institute (CSIR-NGRI).
BHAVINI, a government of India enterprise, was established in the nuclear complex at Kalpakkam, some 100 km from here, to set up Fast Breeder Reactors in the country, starting from the 500 MWe prototype reactor.
When Poovulagin Nanbargal’s G. Sundarrajan has sought information under RTI about the status of the study conducted at 11.75N, 80.75E at the behest of BHAVINI, the CSIR-NGRI had stated that the study had been completed.
“The report has been submitted to BHAVINI, Kalpakkam, who were the sponsors of the project. The report is treated as ‘confidential’ and hence cannot be provided by CSIR-NGRI,” the Central Public Information Officer of Hyderabad-based CSIR-NGRI, Ajay Manglik, stated and forwarded the query to BHAVINI.
BHAVINI too in its reply to the RTI applicant had confirmed that the study had been completed but refused to provide a copy of the report.
“The report belongs to 3rd party and they have requested us to keep the document confidentially and the same cannot be provided under Section - 11 (1) of the RTI Act,” the Public Information Officer of BHAVINI, K. Malathi, in her reply has stated.
“Why do they want to keep it away from the public domain? The report was sponsored by BHAVINI with the public money and how can they deny access to the report done by a government institution. We demand that the report be made available in public domain,” Mr. Sundarrajan told The Hindu .
When contacted, BHAVINI’s Chairman and Managing Director P. Chellapandi confirmed the submission of the report by NGRI. “We have got the report from NGRI. But, we are to yet to decide on making the report public.”
