Uranium mining: Kakodkar holds talks with parties in Meghalaya

Shillong:: With the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) setting a target of 20,000 MW of nuclear power by 2020 in the country, the Union Government is trying hard to maximise the domestic supply of uranium by pushing hard for mining the metal in Meghalaya. The state has enough ore to take care of 16 per cent of the AEC’s uranium needs.

Union Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar and Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Chairman Anil Kakodkar held parleys with an all-party committee on uranium mining and five NGOs to evolve a consensus on the issue.

Hopping from one meeting to another, Chandrasekhar and Kakodkar told reporters that they got the impression that the leaders of political parties and NGOs were divided over the issue.

The meetings were packed with powerpoints presentations and data to convince those opposing mining to change their stand.

“We will continue to oppose mining as it will displace 30,000 people and endanger the health of the people,” said Khasi Students Union (KSU) president Samuel Jyrwa after the meeting.

The Hynniewtrep National Youth Front (HNYF) said it would reconsider its stand if the Government took care of some basic issues like health, employment and empowerment of the local people.

Only the Hills State People Democratic Party (HSPDP) president and deputy chief minister Hopingstone Lyngdoh had openly rejected the idea of mining of uranium mining.

Chandrasekhar said the Union Government and the AEC will continue to hold parleys with those who oppose mining.

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