Agreeing with the government that a new nuclear power plant in the Konkan region is in public interest as it would supply electricity to millions, the Bombay High Court today lifted its stay on land acquisition for the project and dismissed a petition opposing it.

The court had stopped land acquisition for the NPCIL project in Jaitapur — the first to be built after the India-US nuclear deal — in the last week of June on a petition by Bhikaji Waghdhare and four others who said the plant would harm the Konkan ecology and could lead to accidents as the area falls under seismic zone 4.

But the bench of Justices Ranjana Desai and Amjad Sayed ruled: “The Jaitapur nuclear power project cannot be stalled on any grounds... the present nuclear power project stands on the same footing or perhaps on a higher footing as it is going to supply power to millions of people. The project brooks no further delay.”