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The Assam Tribune, Guwahati June 10, 2004 (by: Press Trust of India) Land owners consent for uranium project obtained: UCIL SHILLONG, June 9 – Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL) has claimed that land owners in Meghalaya’s Domiasiat area have given their consent for mining of the radioactive mineral, reports PTI. “We have interacted with the land owners and they have given their consent in principle,” UCIL chairman and managing director R Gupta told reporters here on Sunday. The UCIL claim came in the backdrop of a visit by a high-level team comprising Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar, Gupta and others to Domiasiat, about 150 km from here on Friday. Several social organisations in Shillong have been spearheading a movement against uranium mining citing health hazards and influx of outsiders. Gupta said the consent of the land owners was a “step forward” for setting up UCIL project in Meghalaya’s West Khasi Hills district. He also expressed happiness that the local people were ‘cooperating’ with the UCIL. Land in tribal-dominated Meghalaya belongs to the people and for setting up of any project their consent was regarded crucial. Gupta said UCIL was now interacting with the state authorities and would do so with the Autonomous District Council at an appropriate time. Kakodkar, also secretary in the Department of Atomic Energy, said it wanted to go ahead with the project and would make an honest effort in this regard. o o o The Assam Tribune, Guwahati June 6, 2004 No danger from uranium mining : AEC chief SHILLONG, June 5 – Amidst protests from certain social bodies against uranium mining in Meghalaya, the Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission Anil Kakodkar today allayed apprehensions about ill-effects of radiation. Speaking at a national symposium on environment to mark the World Environment Day here, Kakodkar said radiation is part of nature occurring since the ‘big bang’ resulting in the evolution of matter, element and life, and it existed in nature irrespective of ‘where you are’ in the solar system. Even energy from the sun, which was the source of human life on earth, was also a process of nuclear radiation, he said. Maintaining that radiation “within limits” is “absolutely benign,” Kakodkar said it was the human mind which channelised it for some destructive cause. In an apparent attempt to allay the apprehensions about uranium mining, Kakodkar, also the Secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy, said the government was quite concerned about the safety and degradation of the environment in any of its mining exercise and accorded ‘top priority’ to it.All operations remained within the control domain and were regulated, he said. Pointing out that incidences of health problems like cancer or organ deformities were common in any part of the country, he termed it “not scientific” to establish a ‘cause and effect’ relationship between such hazards and a nearby nuclear establishment. At the seminar hosted by the health, safety and awareness group of the Bhava Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, Kakokdar said as calorific value of uranium is much higher than that of coal, energy from a certain quantity of a radio-active mineral would cater to million times of population than that derived from the same amount of other minerals. Director of Ahmedabad-based Atomic Minerals Directorate of Exploitation and Research, R M Sinha said Meghalaya was endowed with 68 per cent of world uranium deposits and the Domiasiat area in West Khasi Hills, where the mineral ore was found, was only the ‘tip of the ice-berg’. He called for emulating the Australian pattern of setting up a world heritage site and national park at the uranium mining areas in Meghalaya to keep health hazards at bay. Referring to protest movements by some groups against uranium mining in the state, Chief Minister D D Lapang reiterated the government would not be “influenced” by such agitations. “If it (uranium mining) is good for the people, we will go for it... We are firm and call a spade a spade.” Uranium Corporation of India Ltd Chairman, R Gupta, said Meghalaya was endowed with rare resources of mineral and concious efforts should be made by scientists, planners and community leaders to get economic advantage out of it. The 3-day symposium was part of the series hosted every year by BARC on different environmental issues. Scientists and educationists from across the country are taking part in it. o o o o The Assam Tribune, Guwahati June 6, 2004 Atomic Energy panel chief visits Meghalaya SHILLONG, June 5 – President APJ Abdul Kalam has deputed the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) of India, Dr Anil Kakodkar to Meghalaya to dispel apprehensions regarding possible radiation hazards arising out of the proposed uranium mining project at Domiasiat in the West Khasi Hills district of the State. Dr Kalam had assured a group of MLAs from Meghalaya, who called on him last month at New Delhi of soon deputing a team of experts to explain the ground realities of uranium mining, in the wake of stiff opposition to the proposed mining by certain NGOs on the ground that this would lead to health and environmental hazards, besides influx of outsiders to the pre-dominantly tribal State. Dr Kakodkar, who is also secretary to the Union Government, Department of Atomic Energy, visited Domiasiat on Friday and interacted with the local populace. Addressing the media in Shillong on Saturday, the chairman said the local people of Domiasiat were interested in uranium mining as they realised that this would lead to their economic uplift. “I received very positive response from the people of the area, who have agreed in principle to provide land for the purpose to the Uranium Mining Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL),” Dr Kakodkar said. Stating that uranium emitted very low levels of radiation, compared to other radio-active minerals, the chairman said, if the mining project is cleared, the Department of Atomic Energy and the UCIL would ensure strict adherence to the international safety standards, causing no harm either to the health of the people living in the vicinity of the mine or to the environment. “Application for mining lease has been filed with the State Government and the matter is being pursued at various levels, including the autonomous district council and the benefit for the state and the people by the proposed project is being explained at different forums,” Dr Kakodkar informed. “However, we shall never take up mining against the wishes of the people,” the chairman maintained, even as he assured that the project would be scientifically implemented for the benefit of the people of the State at large. Earlier, delivering his presidential address at the 13th National Symposium on Environment held at the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) headquarters in Shillong on Saturday, Dr Kakodkar reiterated that mining of uranium would be taken up in a “hundred per cent environmentally benign manner.” “We need to remove the misconceptions regarding radiation in the minds of the people and the NGOs who are opposed to the project,” he said. Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister D.D. Lapang reiterated: “If uranium mining proves to be beneficial to the people and the economy of the State, the government will go ahead with it irrespective of opposition from certain NGOs.” “We need to adapt to changed circumstances,” he stressed. It may be mentioned here that the proposed mining of uranium in Meghalaya has been pending for more than a decade due to stiff opposition from NGOs. _________________________________ SOUTH ASIANS AGAINST NUKES (SAAN): An informal information platform for activists and scholars concerned about Nuclearisation in South Asia. SAAN Web site URL: www.s-asians-against-nukes.org South Asians Against Nukes Mailing List: To subscribe send a blank message to: <<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SAAN_/message//group/SAAN_/post?postID=K10I9egIDis0J5AKrkB-FLEg_bM_4tw8r1zeF6Zg6wyEZcP8QxRDALezTT8I8Kix9JVZWBE4vlcGlYoRIHUvPfSoHPJ96Q>[EMAIL PROTECTED]> DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do not necessarily reflect the views of SAAN compilers. 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