Protest Against Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant

Protest Against Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant A retired Bombay High Court Judge was on Friday arrested and over 750 people, including a Shiv Sena MLA and farmers, were detained for protesting against the proposed nuclear power plant in Jaitapur in Konkan region of Maharashtra, police said. While retired Judge B G Kolse-Patil was arrested for violating the Collector's order disallowing him from entering Madban village in the view of "Jail Bharo Andolan" (court arrest) announced to protest the project, the rest were detained under the Bombay Police Act. "Patil was produced before a court which released him on a personal bond, while the rest were detained in the afternoon and let off in the evening," D B Boraste, Senior Inspector at Nate Police Station, told PTI. Sena MLA Rajan Salvi and social scientist Vivek Monteiro were among the protesters, he said. The farmers and local villagers do not want the power plant to come up on their farmland. Activists are opposing the project on environmental ground. On October 15, Maharashtra Revenue Minister Narayan Rane, after signing an MoU with Nuclear Power Corp for rehabilitation of affected farmers, had said farmers would get market rates for their land. Rane, who hails from Konkan, had assured to personally monitor the process. The proposed project, to be built by French firm Areva, will have six units of 1,650 MW each.