Residents of five villages in Bhavnagar district, Gujarat, in which a 6,000-MW nuclear plant is proposed to come up, have joined hands to raise their voice against the ₹60,000-crore plant.

The local leaders (sarpanch) and the gram sabhas of the villages – Jasapara, Mithivirdi, Mandva, Khadarpar and Paniyali – have signed a resolution declaring the Mithivirdi-Jasapara area as “nuclear-free zone.” The gram sabhas also indicated their resolve to fight the setting up of the nuclear plant, to be built by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL).

The resolution passed by the gram sabhas, which was put up in public domain, said the villagers would not allow production of nuclear weapons or nuclear power in the area, nor would they allow equipment, components, supplies or substance that can be used for such production in the area.

A total of 777 hectares is proposed to be acquired for the project, which received the approval from the Gujarat Coastal Regulation Zone Authority in 2013.

The approval, too, has come under criticism since it was given on the basis of ‘questionable’ environmental impact assessment (EIA) reports.

In 2009, the land was selected for its suitability since it was identified as “barren” in the initial EIA.

However, villagers as well as activists dispute this assertion, saying that the area has at least 50,000 fruit trees (chikus, mangoes and others) and crops such as bajra, cotton, groundnut and onions are sown here.

“How can you have such a project here?” questions environmentalist Rohit Prajapati, adding that the State as well as Central Governments are not considering the long-term costs – social, environmental a well maintenance costs – of nuclear plants.

He said in a release that there was fear among villagers that the Mithivirdi plant would go the way of the Kudankulam project in Tamil Nadu, which has continued despite local protests.