Is Haridwar The Right Place To Build A Nuclear Power Plant? |
The Ganges is the most revered river of India and is a central pillar of our culture and spirituality. Haridwar, located on the banks of the Ganga, is one of our holiest cities and is also central to the spiritual liberation that forms one of the pillars of Hinduism. Why on earth then would Haridwar be selected as the site for Uttarakhand’s first major nuclear power plant?
The Modi government’s explanation for setting up a 1000 MW nuclear power plant in the Buggalwala area of Haridwar is that it offers a strategic location close to the Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd unit, which produces turbo generators for power plants, thereby providing the necessary logistics for a large-scale energy project like a nuclear facility.
A nuclear power plant located in Uttarakhand will help tackle the power deficit that North India is presently facing. Plus, this is part of the ambitious goal the government has set to triple its nuclear capacity to 100 GW by 2047. Public sector entities like the NTPC and NPCIL have been roped in to initiate site studies for the Haridwar nuclear plant as also for new nuclear energy plants spread across Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan.
But is Haridwar the most appropriate place to start such a venture?
The entire state of Uttarakhand sits over a highly tectonic belt, and the Bureau of Indian Standards recently placed this state in the Seismic Zone VI highest-risk category, largely because this region is susceptible to severe tremors. Critics argue that even though modern nuclear reactors are built to........