5.1.6 Legislation, Policy and Guidelines for Siting of Power Plant

As per the Gazette Notification on Environmental Impact Assessment of Development Projects issued by Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India, on 27th Jan. 1994 and later amended on 4th May 1994, the Nuclear Power Projects are listed at serial number one of the list of Schedule - I industries. This not only places greater emphasis on prioritising the Environmental Impact Assessment of all industries listed under Schedule - I prior to seeking environmental clearance but also provides ample clues for visualising the severity of predicted impacts of the power projects. The existing guidelines on siting of industries (MoE&F, 1984) also have provision for preventing development even within 25 km radial distance of "Ecologically Sensitive Areas", other than protected areas and biosphere reserves. The proposed project site is well within 2 km of the boundary of a Tiger Reserve. According to the Environmental Clearance Notification, MoE&F, Govt. of India, any project listed even under Schedule II -industries and proposed to be located within five kilometre of the boundary of Reserved Forest also require careful consideration. Even the industrial policy statements of the Govt. of India provide for safe siting distance through stipulations on establishment of most industries. On the contrary, this Nuclear Power Station is being proposed adjacent to one of the Tiger Reserves of the country. This proposal, if approved would perhaps be the most flagrant violation of existing legislation regulating the industrial development and the policies and guidelines that have been drawn from time to time to allow development to progress on sound footing.

One of the major criteria adopted for the siting of a nuclear power reactor is the evaluation of the hazard potential to man and his environment in that area. Studies on factors like proximity of the site from high population density areas, climatic and micro-meteorological conditions, geo-hydrological characteristics of the site etc, are crucial to ensure that even under the worst postulated accidents there will be no release of radioactivity beyond permissible levels from the reactor. Since the beginning of the nuclear power programme , India has been strictly following a definite siting criteria . An exclusion of 1.6 km to 2.4 km is maintained around the power stations . This area is owned by the government and is meant exclusively for use by the power station and related activities . There is no public habitation in this area . A sterilized zone of 5 km radius is also maintained around the power station , where natural growth is allowed. Attention is paid to the population distributed within distance of 30 km from the proposed reactor site. These zones are essentially provided to minimise the environmental impacts of the reactor and to ensure that even in unlikely event of serious accident, effective emergency actions can be taken well in time for protecting the surrounding population. Had studies been initiated in this direction the problems of threats to man, property and wildlife would have been effectively addressed to reconsider the site alternatives.

The existing legislation for forest conservation act (Anon., 1980) have stringent provisions for preventing diversion of forest land. Yet, the siting of the Nuclear Power Station in the proposed location would mean the diversion of Project Tiger Area for a developmental activity. The twenty five kilometre radial zone around the project has 361 km2 of Reserved Forest of which 89% area is a part of the Tiger Reserve. Diversion of such large area of forest land for non-forest use even if it would have not been a part of the Tiger Reserve is a step that is a direct violation of Forest Conservation Act (Anon., 1980).

Constitution of Wildlife Sanctuaries and National Parks have been recognised as a measure for the conservation of the country's wildlife under the Wildlife Protection Act, (1972). Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Sanctuary was setup in 1982 as one of the major conservation unit in Andhra Pradesh for the conservation of varied fauna of peninsular India. Further with the coming up of the Project Tiger, the Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Sanctuary became designated as the only Tiger Reserve in Andhra Pradesh. Not only this, it is also the largest Project Tiger Area in the country. The efforts that have gone into the upgradation of the status of this conservation unit provides significant clues of the potential that this reserve has for the conservation of tiger and several other highly endangered species of the country.