HC sets up panel for rehab of Tarapur-affected villagers

The Bombay High Court has formed a committee to address the rehabilitation of villagers displaced by the Tarapur atomic power plant. The committee will work towards resolving issues and is expected to submit a report by January 25.

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court has constituted a committee to look into the rehabilitation of villagers displaced by the third and fourth phases of the Tarapur atomic power plant, one of India’s most powerful and coveted nuclear power plants. The committee will comprise nine members including representatives from the district administration, the central government, and the two affected villages, Akkarappati and Pophran. It will work towards resolving issues pertaining to rehabilitation of over 600 families from both villages and around 460 fishermen from Pophran.

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A bench of justices GS Kulkarni and Jitendra Jain ordered the government to constitute the committee on December 7, after finding that the grievance redressal committee formed in January 2020 was unable to deal with complex issues involved in rehabilitation. The committee will be headed by the divisional commissioner of Konkan. It will include representatives from the department of atomic energy, Nuclear Power Corporation of India, the Palghar district collector, the rehabilitation team, as well as Akkarpatti and Pophran villages.

Implementation of phase three and four of the Tarapur atomic power plant in early 2000s had displaced thousands of families from both villages. Disgruntled with the apathetic attitude of authorities, the Tarapur Anushakti Prakalp Pidit Janata Samiti, an organisation of project-affected people, filed a writ petition in the high court in 2004 on behalf of around 500 project-affected persons. Ram Naik, an MP from north Mumbai, who had witnessed the injustice throughout the implementation, also joined the fight in 2005.

Despite 19 years of litigation involving over 80 orders, approximately 275 families in Pophran and 243 families in Akkarpatti are awaiting rehabilitation, in addition to 438 fisherman families from Pophran, who are also awaiting rehabilitation. Further, many families that were provided houses under the rehabilitation programme chose not to stay in them due to the poor quality of construction. Of the 733 families from Pophran and 517 families from Akkarpatti who were allotted houses, nearly 60% are staying elsewhere, alleging poor construction quality.

The present committee, comprising representatives of all the stakeholders, is expected to submit a report on rehabilitation by January 25, the next date of hearing.