N-deal? They will only snatch our lands

For a change, we chanced upon a group of people very concerned about the N-deal. Santhal tribals of Kalajhore and Rajabasa villages of Ghatsila sub-division in Jharkhand are found worrying about it no end, reports B Vijay Murty .

For a change, we chanced upon a group of people very concerned about the N-deal. Santhal tribals of Kalajhore and Rajabasa villages of Ghatsila sub-division in Jharkhand are found worrying about it no end.

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These two villages are barely 20 km away from Jadugoda, where the Uranium Corporation of India Ltd has been mining uranium for years. But only because the tribals fear their lands may be taken away for a nuclear power plant.

A year back, officials came down to survey their fields for a proposed nuclear plant. A month-long protest forced the government to suspend the project.

“We will start violent protests if the government dares to displace us,” says Kalicharan Baskey, village pradhan, seated on a charpai, his pet pig and a few chickens hovering around. "We are happy the way we are. We only want better roads and health facilities," he adds.

For the largely illiterate people here, nuclear power still means atom bombs and nothing else. They don't see why such bombs are necessary. “They cause harmful radiation, they would paralyse our children and destroy our fields,” said one.