Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said here on Saturday that he would take up the issue of the Jaitapur nuclear power plant project with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The government would not take any decision on the implementation of the Kasturirangan committee report on the Western Ghats without taking people’s views into consideration, he noted.
Mr Javadekar was talking to reporters after a delegation of Maharashtra BJP and Shiv Sena leaders met him raising concerns about the Jaitapur project and Kasturirangan committee report.
“The leaders have conveyed to me the feelings of the people and the status of Jaitapur project. The issue does not come under my ministry. But I will meet the Prime Minister and hand over the memorandum to him. I will discuss the issue with the departments concerned,” he said.
Senior BJP leader Vinod Tawde said the implementation of the Kasturirangan report would be unjust towards the coastal population of the State. “The government should review the report. People in Konkan fear they will not even be able to construct their own houses if this report is implemented,” he said.
The extraction of local black stone has been banned. Leaders have claimed that it had led to the unemployment of lakhs of locals. “Kasturirangan committee’s report is purely technical which was prepared wherein public participation was not involved in its preparation,” the memorandum submitted to Mr. Javadekar stated.
Shiv Sena leader Subhash Desai said the Coastal Regulations Zones rules have stalled many important development projects in Mumbai.
