Activists worry about proposed nuclear power projects near city
They were speaking at a meeting organised by the Karachi Citizens Collective at The Second Floor
KARACHI:
We aren’t opposed to the project, said architect Arif Belgaumi about the two new nuclear power plants proposed to be built near the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (Kanupp). “All we want is a public Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) that addresses our concerns about the proximity of these reactors to a city the size of Karachi.”
He was speaking at a meeting organised by the Karachi Citizens Collective at The Second Floor café to discuss the $10 billion K-II and K-III project. The Sindh High Court passed a stay order for the project until a public EIA is conducted after a small group of citizens and activists filed a petition.
“Kanupp was built in the 1960s but Karachi has grown since then,” explained Belgaumi. “After the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, an area with the radius of 30 kilometres from the plant was evacuated. Most of Karachi lies within the same distance from Kanupp.”
He also pointed out the region lies at a triple tectonic fault. Still, he conceded that Kanupp was perhaps at the safest possible point, between the earthquake-prone Makran belt and the low-lying Indus delta areas that are susceptible to flooding and tsunamis. “The only problem? It just so happens that it’s located right next door to a city of over 20 million residents.”
Barrister Abdul Sattar Peerzada, who is representing the petitioners in court, explained that according to the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act of 1997, no project can be carried out without a public hearing for an EIA.
The Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority filed their comments in court on November 7, which Peerzada called ‘absolutely abysmal’. “They filed a No Objection Certificate that says that they do not need a public hearing because it is a matter of national security and that outweighs the public interest,” he said. “Nobody is asking them to divulge state secrets but we have a right to know about the risks posed by the project and how they plan to deal with a crisis.”
The issue of how the government would handle a crisis was at the fore of the audience’s minds, with few people having much confidence in its abilities. “Forget 30 kms or even 10 kms, our government is not competent enough to even evacuate and rehabilitate the residents within a single kilometre,” asserted a participant.
“We would like to see an open process,” explained Belgaumi. “The problem affects everyone but the PAEC is making the decisions in a closed environment. And the decisions should not be made by the people whose livelihoods depend on these projects.” Peerzada summed up the argument: “It’s about fear of the unknown. If you could inform us and educate us, we might be pacified.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 13th, 2014.
We aren’t opposed to the project, said architect Arif Belgaumi about the two new nuclear power plants proposed to be built near the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (Kanupp). “All we want is a public Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) that addresses our concerns about the proximity of these reactors to a city the size of Karachi.”
He was speaking at a meeting organised by the Karachi Citizens Collective at The Second Floor café to discuss the $10 billion K-II and K-III project. The Sindh High Court passed a stay order for the project until a public EIA is conducted after a small group of citizens and activists filed a petition.
“Kanupp was built in the 1960s but Karachi has grown since then,” explained Belgaumi. “After the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, an area with the radius of 30 kilometres from the plant was evacuated. Most of Karachi lies within the same distance from Kanupp.”
He also pointed out the region lies at a triple tectonic fault. Still, he conceded that Kanupp was perhaps at the safest possible point, between the earthquake-prone Makran belt and the low-lying Indus delta areas that are susceptible to flooding and tsunamis. “The only problem? It just so happens that it’s located right next door to a city of over 20 million residents.”
Barrister Abdul Sattar Peerzada, who is representing the petitioners in court, explained that according to the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act of 1997, no project can be carried out without a public hearing for an EIA.
The Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority filed their comments in court on November 7, which Peerzada called ‘absolutely abysmal’. “They filed a No Objection Certificate that says that they do not need a public hearing because it is a matter of national security and that outweighs the public interest,” he said. “Nobody is asking them to divulge state secrets but we have a right to know about the risks posed by the project and how they plan to deal with a crisis.”
The issue of how the government would handle a crisis was at the fore of the audience’s minds, with few people having much confidence in its abilities. “Forget 30 kms or even 10 kms, our government is not competent enough to even evacuate and rehabilitate the residents within a single kilometre,” asserted a participant.
“We would like to see an open process,” explained Belgaumi. “The problem affects everyone but the PAEC is making the decisions in a closed environment. And the decisions should not be made by the people whose livelihoods depend on these projects.” Peerzada summed up the argument: “It’s about fear of the unknown. If you could inform us and educate us, we might be pacified.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 13th, 2014.