TIRUNELVELI: Sufficient stock of iodine tablets are maintained in Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) area in line with the respective emergency preparedness plan, said the Department of Atomic Energy informing parliament, in response to an unstarred question posed by Tirunelveli M P Robert Bruce on Wednesday.
Bruce questioned whether evacuation plans are in place in Kudankulam and iodine tablets, to be taken during emergency, are sufficiently stocked in KKNPP and medical centres in and around it.
"There is a detailed emergency preparedness plan, approved by the regulatory authority, in place at all nuclear plant sites including Kudankulam. The plan outlines actions to be taken in the unlikely event of an emergency and the responsibilities of various officials for implementing them. Periodic emergency exercises are carried out wherein all stakeholders are involved. The feedback of the exercise is used to validate and improve the emergency preparedness plan," the department said.
No Central project to clean Thamirabarani
Responding to another question posed by the MP about pollution of Thamirabarani River, the Minister of State for Jal Shakti Raj Bhushan Choudhary said that as per the Central Pollution Control Board report published in November 2022, the stretch from Pappankulam to Arumuganeri in the river Thamirabarani has been identified as a polluted river stretch of priority IV with a Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) level of 7.5 milligrams per litre.
"It is the responsibility of States and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) to ensure required treatment of sewage and industrial effluents to the prescribed norms before discharging into the rivers and other water bodies. The union government provides financial and technical support under various programmes. Under National River Conservation Program, the ministry sanctioned and executed projects for pollution abatement of Thamirabarani between 2001 to 2007. Presently, no project is under consideration in the ministry," he added.