Gujarat villagers, environmentalists oppose coastal zone nod to Mithi Virdi nuclear plant

Off Alang shipbreaking yard

Two separate letters, one by senior Vadodara-based environmentalists of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti, and the other by local village heads, have strongly opposed the recent coastal regulatory zone (CRZ) clearance to the proposed Mithi Virdi Nuclear Power Plant in Bhavnagar district, Gujarat. The letters say, the minutes of the 144th meeting of Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of India (January 28-30, 2015) are "totally vague” about the reasons for offering the nod.
The second letter, containing nearly the same content the first one, has been signed, among others, by Shaktisinh H Gohil, sarpanch, Jaspara village; Samuben Hirabhai Dabhi, sarpanch, Mithi Virdi village; Vilasba Dharmendrasinh Gohil, sarpanch, Mandva village; and Pruthvirajsinh.M. Gohil, sarpanch, Khadarpar village. The first letter has been signed by Rohit Prajapati, Krishnakant and Swati Desai.
“The CRZ rules mandate that EAC should have visited the site and consulted the local villagers who stand to be affected by the proposed project, which according to the local villagers as well as the local panchayats, never happened”, the letters, written to EAC chairman Anil Razdan, adding, “Neither the local villagers nor public have any knowledge as to what basis the EAC recommended the CRZ clearance.”
Pointing out that the CRZ clearance has been claimed to have been given because a “groyne-based channel type seawater intake system” has been proposed “with the sump at the shore”, the letters say, “A detailed study considering the impact of the groyne on the long-shore drift of sediments and the likely pattern of erosion/accretion that may result has yet to be conducted, without which CRZ clearance should not be granted.”
Worse, the letters say, the minutes are “silent about the potential danger posed to the coastal environment by the project's proximity to Alang Sosiya Ship Breaking Yard, functioning on stretches over 10 km in the immediate vicinity of the proposed nuclear power plant. “In fact, parts of the Yard fall within the Village Jaspara, one of the villages whose land is to be acquired by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL), the Government of India body which is implementing the project.
“The entire coastal area adjacent to the Yard is contaminated with solid, liquid, gaseous and hazardous waste including paint chips, asbestos, oily sludge, used/spent oil, toxic chemicals, radioactive waste, PCBs and ACMs”, the letters point out, adding, “The comprehensive impact of the Mithi Virdi Project on an already critically-polluted coastal area with high ecological value has not been taken into account by the EAC in its recommendation for CRZ clearance.”
The letters further say, “In all, 152 villages with a population of more than 200,000 in 30 km radius of the proposed nuclear power plant will be adversely affected by the project… The extraction of fresh water by the proposed plant and its impact on the local agriculture-dependent economy has not been mentioned in the consideration for CRZ.”
The letters demand that that the EAC should “immediately withdraw its recommendation for the CRZ clearance, as it has failed to take into consideration crucial components related to the coastal environment at Mithi Virdi area”, adding, at the same time, the EAC should make public all the details including the study for the proposed nuclear power plant, the documents such as the main application of the NPCIL for CRZ clearance, the reasons for which it recommends CRZ clearance, and so on.
They simultaneously demand that all citizens, particularly the residents and local bodies at Mithi Virdi area, are given at least a month’s time to register their response to the CRZ clearance recommendation as mandated by the law.

Comments

No to free thought? How Gujarat's private universities are cowing down their students

"Don't protest"—that's the message private universities across Gujarat seem to be conveying to their students. A senior professor told me that students at the university where he teaches are required to sign an undertaking promising not to engage in protests. "They simply sign the undertaking and hand it over to the university authorities," he said.

Beyond the Sattvik plate: Prof Anil Gupta's take on food, ethics, and sustainability

I was pleasantly surprised to receive a rather lengthy comment (I don't want to call it a rejoinder) on my blog post about the Sattvik Food Festival, held near the Sola Temple in Ahmedabad late last year. It came from no less a person than Anil Gupta, Professor Emeritus at the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A), under whose guidance this annual event was held.

'Potentially lethal, carcinogenic': Global NGO questions India refusing to ban white asbestos

Associated with the Fight Inequality Alliance, a global movement that began in 2016 to "counter the concentration of power and wealth among a small elite", claiming to have members in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, the Philippines, and Denmark, the advocacy group Confront Power appears all set to intensify its campaign against India as "the world’s largest asbestos importer".

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

In lieu of tribute to Pritish Nandy, said to be instrumental in collapse of Reliance-controlled daily

It is widely reported that Pritish Nandy , journalist, author, animal activist, and politician, has passed away. While it is customary to pay tributes to a departing soul—and I, too, have joined those who have posted heartfelt condolences on social media—I cannot forget the way he treated me when he was editor of the Reliance-controlled Business and Political Observer (BPO), for which I had been working informally in Moscow.

Shyam Benegal's Mathan a propaganda film that supported 'system'? No way

A few days ago, I watched Manthan, a Shyam Benegal movie released in 1976. If I remember correctly, the first time I saw this movie was with Safdar Hashmi, one of the rare young theater icons who was brutally murdered in January 1989. Back then, having completed an M.A. in English Literature from Delhi University in 1975, we would often move around together.

To be or not to be Sattvik: Different communities' differing notions of purity and fasting

This is a continuation of my last blog on Sattvik food. When talking about Sattvik, there is a tendency to overlook what it may mean to different sections of people around the world. First, let me redefine Sattvik: it means having a "serene, balanced, and harmonious mind or attitude." Derived from the Sanskrit word sattva, it variously means "pure, essence, nature, vital, energy, clean, conscious, strong, courage, true, honest, and wise." How do people achieve this so-called purity? Among Gujarati Hindus, especially those from the so-called upper castes who are vegetarians, one common way is fasting. On fasting days, such as agiyarash —the 11th day of the lunar cycle in the Vedic calendar—my close relatives fast but consume milk, fruit juices, mangoes, grapes, bananas, almonds, pistachios, and potato-based foods, including fried items. Another significant fasting period is adhik maas. During this time, many of my relatives "fast" by eating only a single me...

Sattvik Food Festival: Shouldn't one question notion of purity, cultural exclusion in food choices?

Recently, I visited the Sattvik Food Festival, an annual event in Ahmedabad organized by Anil Gupta, professor emeritus at the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A). I have known Prof. Gupta since 1993, when I sought an appointment to meet him a few months after joining The Times of India in Ahmedabad—one reason why I have always been interested in the activities he is involved in.

Challenging patriarchy? Adopting maternal and marital surnames: Resistance continues

Anandiben Patel The other day, I was talking with a group of family friends. The discussion revolved around someone very close to me who had not changed her official name in documents, including her Aadhaar and passport, after her marriage. However, on social media and within her husband's family, she had adopted her husband's surname as a suffix to her own. I mentioned that there is a growing trend—though not yet widespread—where women prefer to retain their maiden names or add their maiden surnames alongside their husband's surname. Another emerging trend is where men choose to add their mother's name, or even their wife's name, to their own. This revelation surprised my family friends.

Search This Blog