Nayachar project scrapped

Announcing the scrapping of the project,Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee said the government would not allow a chemical hub in the state because of threat of air and land pollution and a threat to livelihood of fishermen.

The PCPIR was proposed to be set up at Nayachar by the erstwhile Left Front government,after fierce resistance to the project at Nandigram where it was originally planned to be set up.

The then government had tried to showcase Nayachar as Bengal’s Jurong,an industrial estate off the coast of Singapore.

The island,however,falls under the coastal regulation zone where industries are not permitted under environment rules.

The chemical hub was planned as a joint venture of West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation Ltd and New Kolkata International Development,which included Salim Group of Indonesia,while Indian Oil Corporation was to be the anchor investor.

Chatterjee said Nayachar would instead be “developed for eco-tourism”.

Scientists welcome decision on Haripur plant

Kolkata: A group of scientists under the banner of “Paramanu Bidyut Birodhi Prachar Aandolan”,which is opposed to the setting up of nuclear plants,on Friday “thanked” Mamata Banerjee government for accepting the demand of scrapping the proposed nuclear plant at Haripur in East Midnapore district. The statement was signed by Palashbaran Pal of the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics,Tushar Chakraborty of Indian Institute of chemical Biology,Meher Engineer,ex-director of Bose Institute,Samar Bagchi,ex-director of Birla Industrial and Technological Museum,Sujay Basu,ex-director of School of Energy Studies and Monoj Pal,ex-director,Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics.