Union Minister of State Jitender Singh’s recent statement in Parliament that the Centre had cleared a proposal to set up a nuclear power plant at Kovvada in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, abutting the proposed executive capital city of Visakhapatnam, has sparked another round of protests. At the same time, there are also protests at the other end of the State, in Tummalapalle, Kadapa district, over uranium mining and its associated risks to health and environment, as well as issues of rehabilitation and resettlement.
Despite initial protests after the projects were proposed, people from these two regions were more or less convinced about the developmental aspects of the nuclear power plant and uranium mining, and land acquisition was a smooth affair. The expectation was that the governments would meet the requirements, stick to the stipulated norms, and allay fears over safety, health and rehabilitation.
The Kovvada nuclear power plant was first proposed in 2015. The government has acquired over 2,079 acres of land for the plant, which was taken up in association with the U.S. multinational nuclear power reactors supplier, Westinghouse Electric Company. After Mr. Singh’s recent statement, the Forum for Development of North Andhra, in a letter to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, raised concerns over the plant and urged him to pass a resolution to reject it in the State.
