Greens’ appeal to PM Modi: Don’t allow Kaiga plant expansion

Karwar: Locals, who are against the expansion of the Kaiga nuclear power plant here, have decided to meet PM Modi with the senior pontiffs of the Pejawar and Swarnavalli Mutts and appeal to him to put a stop to the project.

Despite opposition from the local people and environmentalists, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had approved the plan to expand the Kaiga plant by the addition of units 5 and 6,  producing 700 MWe each, in September this year. The angry activists have since stepped up their protest and besides holding rallies and taking steps to fight the expansion legally, are  hoping to put pressure on the Union government to give up the project.

“We have decided to request Sri Gangadharendra Saraswati Swamiji of Swarnavalli Mutt to lead us to meet the Prime Minister. Yesterday, during the protest rally,  Sri Vishvesha Teertha Swamiji of Pejawar Mutt too offered to help us,” said Zilla Panchayat  member, Shanta Bandekar, who is  president of the committee opposing the Kaiga expansion. He  added that a case had  been filed before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to put a stop to the  expansion of the plant.

 “The government says that Kaiga is for power production. But the irony is that people of villages like Bare, Balemane, Haruru near the plant are still living in the dark! They neither get  power from the Kaiga atomic station nor from the hydro -electric station from the dam nearby,” he deplored, claiming that on the other hand, their health seemed to be affected.  “The employees of the Kaiga plant are from  North Indian states. So it gives us neither  power nor employment. Let the government set up new units in  Bihar or Chhattisgarh,” he said.