A division bench of the High Court on Monday recorded the undertaking given by the government that it is not issuing any proceedings to acquire lands for setting up a nuclear power plant near Kovvada in Srikakulam district in the immediate future.
The bench, comprising acting chief justice NV Ramana and justice Vilas V Afzulpurkar, was dealing with a public interest petition filed by Capt J Rama Rao, an environmentalist, challenging the government’s decision to set up a 6,000 MW nuclear power plant and light water reactors at Ramachandrapuram, Gudem Kotapalem, Tekkali and Jeeru Kovvada in Ranasthalam mandal in Srikakulam district.
The petitioner’s counsel brought to the court’s notice the rule position which makes it clear that the site clearance has to be given by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB). However, no application was made to the AERB for the purpose and the site was cleared without following norms. The authorities had initiated proceedings to acquire lands in the mandal without following the rules, he pointed out.
The bench wanted to know from the government whether all the rules regarding site selection were scrupulously followed or not. The government’s counsel said that the state was not issuing any notification under the Land Acquisition Act immediately. The bench recorded it and adjourned the hearing.