Tactics of coercion by PRAFUL BIDWAI

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan’s visit to Jaitapur failed to quell public misgivings about the nuclear power project.

WHAT was the purpose of Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan’s first-ever visit to the controversial Jaitapur nuclear project site on the Konkan coast on February 26? If it was to acquaint himself with the many criticisms, apprehensions and questions the area’s residents have about the safety of the project with six 1,650 MW reactors, then Chavan did not succeed. He did not listen with patience and humility to its opponents to understand why they have fought the project for four years. Rather, he talked down to them, told them what was best for them, and admonished them not to be misled by “outsiders” and “foreign powers” that do not “want to see India progress”.

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The protest against Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project

Abhijit: The public hearing was illegal as the government did not give the copy of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to all the 4 villages getting affected. They gave it to only 1 village. Ofcourse, the whole EIA looks like a “prepared” one ignoring crucial issues like danger of earthquake as madban comes under seismic zone 4(govt says 3 which is also dangerous), radiation effects on people, accident possibility, damage from accident, cost of the power, ….

News Items:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Villagers-in-Ratnagiri-rally-against-nuclear-plant-at-public-hearing/Article1-544622.aspx
http://www.thehindu.com/2010/05/17/stories/2010051757251400.htm
http://www.hindustantimes.com/N-plant-plan-meets-stiff-opposition/Article1-544651.aspx
http://www.onenewspage.in/news/Front+Page/20100516/11064263/Protests-stall-public-hearing-on-Jaitapur-nuclear-project.htm
http://www.in.com/news/current-affairs/protests-stall-public-hearing-on-jaitapur-nuclear-project-13937599-db06c594e0c772ff3a329029cfe082d168c9f8d8-rhp.html
http://www.topix.com/in/mumbai/2010/05/protests-stall-public-hearing-on-jaitapur-nuclear-project
http://mandgoa.blogspot.com/2010/05/protests-stall-public-hearing-on.html

Rushal: – I am ashamed of the state of literacy in the Indian middle class about the latest happenings on this front in the developed countries. America has not seen a single new reactor for the last 23 years – As many as 18 European nations have declared Nuclear Energy illegal.

Yet we are crazy for power, development, electricity . . . We want development at any cost. We DO NOT want to waste time in thinking critically on the lies served by our government and big corporations. Rather we would work an extra hour at office for that project OR be at a disc enjoying death!

We have become too mechanical to think rationally today. I feel there is no point in raising such issues on this forum. This is a place where all the DEAD SOULS come for intellectual time pass! Your message and efforts would be more valued and appreciated among people who are still illiterate.

Tushar: – Its very shameful that Govt. EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) report states about the Kokan land that- “Its a Rocky land with no Habitation & vegetation. There are no breeding sites. It is also not used for drying of fish. The conversion of this land will not going to Impact flora and founa and human activities”…ha ha ha!!!!!
Its itself very funny that someone is calling Beautiful land of Kokan as Rocky land with no habitation and breeding. Where farmers are taking their crops since centuries.
Talking about the breeding….If the EIA report states its a barren land & there is not breeding site in this region of Kokan….the why our Govt. is giving compensation to 300 farmers for the loss of income from horticulture????
Is it possible that if a Nuclear Plant is established & then it is not gonna effect the flora and fauna in that region even if the Nuclear waste in this Power plant will be dumped in sea which will perish all the habitat and all aquatic animals in the whole coastline region of Kokan due to which all the Fisherman will have to loose their centuries old Occupation and source of Earning(Thats what happened due to Tarapur Nuclear Power Plant), Here question arises where these thousands of fishermen are supposed to go???…and the radiation coming from the Power plant will drastically make its impact on Human Health such as increase in Cancer and the most dangerous disordered children. 😦
So, we should think, Do we really need such Energy which will destroy the whole habitation & Beauty of our Environmentally rich Kokan only for the greed of energy of very few peoples????……
Just think once………….

Critical mass

by MEENA MENON

The sleepy surroundings of Madban and nearby villages in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra were roused to action sometime in October 2005 when the Government of India sanctioned the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project (JNPP). The project, proposed to be built by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) with evolutionary pressurised reactors (EPR) from Areva, France, set off a flurry of writ petitions, requests under the Right to Information Act, and widespread protests which culminated in a rather stormy public hearing at ground zero in Madban.

If the public hearing, organised by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board on May 16, is anything to go by, the people of Madban and neighbouring villages are highly incensed at the way things are. Apparently, none of them has accepted the cheque for compensation for land acquired for the project under the Land Acquisition Act. The NPCIL, however, says some people have accepted compensation (see interview).

The proposed project, the largest of its kind in the world when completed, will have six units of 1,650 MWe each. One unit of 1,650 MWe plant operating at full capacity can generate 36-39 million units a day, according to the NPCIL booklet on the project.

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Anu Roko Yatra Oct 2,2010

We had participated in a very successful public meeting at Mithi Virdi (Bhavnagar district, Gujarat) on April 25, 2010 against an American nuclear power plant proposed to be set up there. Along with many Gujarat-based leaders such as Krishnakant, Michael Mazgaonkar and others, Dr. Banwarilal Sharma, Karuna Raina and Dr. S. P. Udaykumar also participated.

That evening all of us, some 50 anti-nuclear activists, had a meeting at a small town called Mahuva and it was facilitated by Dr. Banwarilal Sharma. One of the major decisions was to try and organize a national train tour starting from October 2, 2010 (Anu Roko Yatra) that touches some of the existing and upcoming nuclear power plant locations and other important cities on the way. Udaykumar and myself discussed it further.

Here are some sketchy details and we need your input, help and cooperation to make the plan a reality:

It would be a roughly 25-day tour. There will be a core team of 10-15 people that goes through the whole tour and there will be more people joining/leaving and travelling between specific points. A local team would organize a public event and a press meet wherever the tour goes. Here is a rough time-table:

Oct 2:  Starting from Kanyakumari

Stop 1: Chennai

Stop 2: Vishakapatnam

Stop 3: Bhubaneswar

Stop 4: Kolkata

Stop 5: Ranchi

Stop 6: Bhopal

Stop 7: Haryana/Chandigarh

Stop 8: Ahmedababd

Stop 9: Mumbai

Stop 10: Bangalore – optional, not finalised, depends upon local response (Concluding on October 24, UN Day)

We need volunteers who will be willing to join us for this yatra. A minimum of 10 volunteers are required. At present we have two, Udaykumar and myself. We are also suggesting that from the various anti-nuclear movements, one participant joins the Yatra, and this individual can also be replaced by another from the same group after a certain period of time.So we need volunteers from amongst you.

We need to print handbills, brochures in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Hindi, Gujarathi, Marathi, and Kannada.

Please share with us your thoughts and ideas.

In solidarity,

Neeraj Jain

Muckaty Voices: a short film about community resistance against radioactive waste dump

“”Muckaty Voices” is a short film capturing community resistance to an Australian government plan to dump radioactive waste at Muckaty Station, 120 kilometres north of Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory. … Traditional Owner and dump critic Dianne Stokes told a Senate Inquiry in April 2010, “We made the video throughout the Warlmanpa land. It is all of the Milwayi story. We wanted to show this DVD to the public and the people here in this Senate Inquiry because of the place where the proposed dump site area is going to be sited… Along with that, we have some songs and dances to represent the country”. The film was produced for the Muckaty Traditional Owners by Enlightning Productions, with the support of the Beyond Nuclear Initiative.”

visit : www.beyondnuclearinitiative.wordpress.com

Nuclear dump opposed from Muckaty to Melbourne

Community opposition to Martin Ferguson’s nuclear waste dump at Muckaty Station continues to grow. About 40 people convened at short notice outside Martin Ferguson’s electoral office on High Street Preston in a colourful protest of speeches, song and street theatre. ‘Martin Ferguson’ gets ‘splashed’ with Muckaty nuclear waste in the street theatre performed outside his office.

Many of those present were constituents of Martin Ferguson’s electorate of Batman. It was also noticeable the level of support given to the protest by drivers on High Street. While Martin Ferguson occupies on of the safest Labor seats in Australia, it is plain he is out of step with many of his electors over the nuclear waste Dump.

Under a huge inflatable white elephant speakers told the story of Martin Ferguson, the Minister for energy and resources imposing sweeping powers to over-ride state and territory laws and to bypass federal environmental and aboriginal heritage laws.

Many of the indigenous Ngapa people and traditional owners from other Muckaty groups oppose the nuclear dump. Even the NT Labor Conference in April 2008 called for the exclusion of Muckaty on the grounds that nomination “was not made with the full and informed consent of all traditional owners and affected people and as such does not comply with the Aboriginal Land Rights Act.”

Dave Sweeney, nuclear campaigner with the Australian Conservation Foundation said “One of the most pivotal fundamental things for a responsible and effective long term radioactive waste management regime is to have a high level of community consent and social licence. You don’t do that by passing legislation that cuts across people’s rights, that overides state and territory laws, that takes away peoples rights to go to court and seek procedural or legal redress or recourse.”

“You don’t do that by not meeting with people, not consulting with people. You don’t do that by having confidential documents or commercial in confidence and you refuse to release to the Australian people, the Australian parliament, or most insulting of all, traditional owners whose family names will be on that document and who do not know that contents.” said Dave Sweeney.

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