Need of the hour!!!!!! Nuclear power or Nature???

Maslow, in his hierarchy of needs suggested the first and the basic need of human beings as the physiological needs (Food, cloth, shelter). The way we are living, I think, Mr. Maslow forgot to add electricity as one among the basic needs.

We have moved ahead of time in such a way that life without electricity would become meaningless. Human beings are trying all their means to generate electricity in all possible ways they can. With the depletion of non-renewable sources, the alternate for electricity came in the form of Nuclear power. Developing nations are trying their level best to co-ordinate with the developed nations to obtain fuel and equipments to set-up nuclear facility.

Not far behind, India is catching up the race to set up its very own nuclear plants. Nuclear power is the fourth largest source of electricity generator in our country. Even though it is an achievement to be proud about, we have forgotten to look at the negative side of it.

How many of us are aware of the real scenario regarding the Koodankulam and Jaitapur Nuclear power plant?

After the assessment of facilities, livelihood and having obtained the consent of the ministries, it was decided to set-up nuclear facilities in these areas.

A nuclear plant in partnership with Russia was proposed to be built in Koodankulam, a small village with a population of 70,000 in and around the place. 

It is located at the Gulf of Mannar, one of the richest bio-diversity areas of the world. 

Like any nuclear reactor, they also need Freshwater for its functioning along with seawater to cool down the reactors.

Disadvantage of setting a nuclear plant in this area would be the livelihood of people getting affected. The houses need to be relocated and people have to shift their place of living to far-off places from the plant. Also, fisherman has to discontinue their only income of fishing, as the seawater would not be a habitat for fishing due to the release of water from this plant. The difficulties faced by the people in these areas could be manageable, as the government would arrange for alternate ways for their existence.

Another nuclear plant under the scanner is the Jaitapur Nuclear plant, which is built in coalition with the French government.

 As we all know, the Jaitapur plant is situated in the eco-sensitive coastal Maharashtra region. 

The environmental ministry has cleared the proposal for building this power plant, ignoring the consequences of the nature. 

One of the commonly known norms for any nuclear site is the earthquake factor. Even though the proposed site has a severe threat of earthquake, still the environmental ministry has given a nod to go ahead.

Hope the ministry considered the threat of earthquakes, while giving a nod to this proposal. Even though the nod from the ministry came before the disaster of Japan, has the ministry revisited its approval afterwards?

Even the formation of human chain and demonstration by environmentalist during the visit of French president Nicolas Sarkozy, had no consequences. The protest by green peace activist and environmentalist fell on deaf ears, as the government went ahead with its proposal.

If my writing has suggested that am against the setting of nuclear plants, I would say sorry for creating such an impression. Like any other soul on earth, it is difficult for me to stay without electricity even for a short period of time and I accept the benefits of building a nuclear power. I am also a great supporter of nuclear power for our country.

But, my angst is on the fact that nature gets destroyed, which leads to the imbalance in the ecosystem.

What about the trees and plants that would be destroyed in this process?

What about the bio-life that would be destroyed by these power plants? 

Just because they cannot express their views, it doesn’t mean that we can exploit it to the fullest. It is understood that unless nature is destroyed at a certain place, nuclear power will remain a dream. But, what is the recovery process we have adopted to recreate nature at other places?

Do we have a process in place to build or develop nature at different places?

We have seen ‘n’ number of proposals regarding creation of nuclear plants or infrastructures, but how many proposals have we come across, which speaks about the development of nature?

It is time for us to realize that we are becoming victims of our own actions.

Better late than never…….

Rather than pondering upon the destruction, let’s try to re-build or re-create the nature at alternate places for the betterment of environment.