NPCIL board comes up with rehab offer for land owners

Following the N-Deal between India and United States during the tenure of previous UPA-II Government, the NPCIL has proposed an N-power project in Mithi Virdi village. The project authorities have proposed to acquire 777 hectares of land from around 340 agricultural land owners of Bhavnagar district. And discontent is brewing against the project among the farmers whose land might be acquired for the project.

Having six nuclear reactors with power generation capacity of 1,000 MW each, the total estimated cost of the proposed project is around Rs 60,000 crore.

Right from the beginning when the project was first proposed it has witnessed opposition from the local villagers and environment activists on several grounds. The environment activists are opposing it on the grounds of safety and security of villagers and environment owing to possible radiation. They cite disasters like 2011 Fukushima Nuclear Disaster of Japan after the plant was hit by a tsunami.

The villagers are opposing the project as they don’t want to part with their fertile land for the project. They have been regularly opposing the proposed acquisition of their land for the project.

Earlier this month, the villagers of Mithi Virdi, Jasapara, Khadarpar and Mandva – the four villages to be affected – had held a public meeting and took a vow to protect environment and not to part with their land for the project.