Trinamool Minister opposes Haripur nuclear power plant

Kolkata, Dec 8 : Union Minister of State for Rural Development Sisir Adhikari Tuesday said his party would oppose the proposal for setting up a nuclear power plant in West Bengal's Haripur as it is a thickly populated and agriculturally fertile region.

He said the state's Left Front government had provided wrong information to the centre on the issue of setting up a 6,000MW nuclear power park project at Haripur in East Midnapore district.

"A delegation of Trinamool Congress will soon meet the Prime Minister and will tell him about the actual situation at Haripur.

"It (Haripur) is a vastly populated village and a very fertile region in terms of agricultural production. Most of the areas are full of multi-crop lands. We can't allow any nuclear power plant there," Adhikari said.

The Trinamool Congress is the second largest component after the Congress in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) central government.

"The state government has misled the centre on the issue," he said.

The nuclear power plant site at Haripur has been selected for setting up six units of 1,000MW each.

The Haripur project faced resistance from a section of local people who protested against the project claiming that the nuclear power plant would affect their livelihood - mainly fishing and agriculture.

According to plans, the first two units of the project might be developed with imported Russian technology.

Work is expected to begin by 2012-13 with the plant likely to be commissioned by 2017-18.