The hopes of setting up a nuclear power plant at Haripur in West Bengal were revived with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) saying the project would bring in investment of ₹1 lakh crore for the State.
Officials also said they had sought an appointment with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to discuss the issue.
“The power plant will fetch an investment of about ₹1 lakh crore to West Bengal and will have a major impact on the State’s economy,” Anutosh Chakraborty, additional chief engineer, Haripur Nuclear Park, told
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Earlier, the NPCIL had also released a pre-project survey of the coastal avian diversity of the region.
The Trinamool Congress government that assumed power in 2011 had categorically ruled out the setting up of the plant, with the then Power Minister Manish Gupta announcing in the Assembly that the project had been shelved. Mr. Chakraborty said the proposal for the plant remained and expressed the hope that the Chief Minister would take a favourable decision soon.
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Risk factors
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Referring to the risk factors raised by the locals, experts said they could not be a deterrent to set up such plants.
Debasish Shymal, secretary of the National Fishworkers Forum and convener of Haripur Parimanu Prakalpa Pratirodh Andolan Committee, said the locals in November 2006 had forced the NPCIL authorities to leave the area. They would not be allowed to set up the plant even if they tried again.