Clarification on fate of Jaitapur N-plant sought

Maharashtra Legislative Council Deputy Chairman Vasant Davkhare Friday asked the state government to clarify the fate of the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant (JNPP) coming up in the coastal Konkan region.

Congress legislative council member Sanjay Dutt raised the issue through a matter of propriety in the upper house of the legislature and was supported by party colleague Manikrao Thakre.

Dutt said Environment Minister and Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam recently declared that his party would not permit the JNPP to come up. Hence, a clarification was required from the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena government.

The 9,900 MW JNPP, coming up with French collaboration of Areva S.A., will be the world's largest nuclear power generating station in terms of net electrical power rating.

It is being constructed at Jaitapur village, in the picturesque Ratnagiri district of coastal Maharashtra, around 550 km south of Mumbai.

The Shiv Sena is officially opposed to JNPP and has agitated alongside the local villagers, farmers and fisherfolk several times in the past against the erstwhile Congress-led governments at the centre and the state.

After joining the BJP government, the Sena's position on JNPP remains unchanged.

Davkhare directed the Devendra Fadnavis led government to clarify the status of the mega-project before the end of the Maharashtra legislature's winter session, currently underway here.