[Reader-list] Engineers held hostage, work on nuclear plant halts

[asit das]

*Engineers held hostage, work on nuclear plant halts------*

Work on survey of land at Gorakhpur village — the site for Haryana’s first
nuclear power plant — came to a halt on Monday after irate villagers held
three engineers of a private company hostage for five hours. The situation
was finally brought under control after the police rushed to this village
in Fatehabad district and assured the villagers that no further survey work
will be taken up at the site.


According to sources, the engineers of DBM Geo-technology and Construction
Company, working for the Nuclear Power Corporation of India, had gone to
the village without taking the local administration into confidence. For
the last six days, the had been taking soil and water samples from the area.

The fresh crisis is likely to hit the project hard as farmers are not ready
to part with their land. Their agitation has also received support from the
members of Team Anna and the INLD, which had criticised the government of
being pro-capitalist.

According to sources, engineers Parveen Mahajan, Sadanand and Viresh Maurya
landed at the village to conduct a survey on Monday. While they were
conducting the survey to level the land in the area belonging to farmer
Lekhu Ram Sharma, trouble erupted. The farmer contacted other villagers and
members of the Parmanoo Virodhi Society, who objected to the survey and
confined the engineers in a thatched room in the field.

Fatehabad DSP (Headquarters) Shamsher Dahiya said: “We immediately
intervened and the engineers were released after the villagers were assured
that no survey will be conducted.”

For the project, the state government had started the process of acquiring
1,100 acres of land. Agitated over apprehensions of radiation leaks and
nuclear emissions, owners of more than 200 acres had lodged their protest
over the acquisition. One farmer had died during the agitation and
villagers sat on a hungerstrike that went on for over a year.

Gorakhpur is the site of 4x700 MW nuclear power plant to be set up by the
National Power Corporation of India Ltd. The plant will be developed over
1,000 acres and will consume 50 tonnes of uranium annually at a cost of Rs
12,000 crore.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/engineers-held-hostage-work-on-nuclear-plant-halts/908757/0