Left parties which have strongly opposed atomic power plant at Kovvada of Ranasthalam, in Srikakulam District alleged that the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Private Limited (NPCIL) had not obtained the site clearance certificate from Atomic Energy Regulatory Board.
CPI (Marxist) State Secretariat Member Ch. Narasinga Rao, CPIM Srikakulam wing Secretary Bhaviri Krishna Murthy and others said that AERB’s prior approval of site clearance was a must before taking up land acquisition process in the identified villages. The CPIM members visited various vilalges including Kovvada, Kotapalem, Ramachandrapuram and other areas and sought the opinions of locals.
They observed that over 90 per cent of the people in those villages were not willing to move to other areas despite the Governement’s announcement over the ‘best package’ for them. “We have written to AERB to clarify whether the NPCIL obtained the necessary permissions for the construction of the nuclear power project in Sriakulam District. We will not allow any land acquisition process at the ground level unless the NPCIL shows the site clearance certificate,” said Mr. Narasinga Rao.
The party members took up door to door survey too in the villages for the last few weeks to know the grond level situation. “Despite their political affiliation, all the local leaders and public representatives are strongly opposing the land acquisition. That is why the survey teams could not enter the villages in the last few days. We will chalk out action plan to take up the movement and draw the attention of the nation,” said Mr.Krishnamurthy.
Meanwhile, NPCIL and the government officials are hopeful to complete the process very soon as people are ‘willing’ to accept the packages. They felt that resistance was little and it could be overcome easily by accepting their demands. The government estimated that around Rs.940 crore was needed for taking up R and R package. It may go up slightly if other demands are accepted by the Government.
