Hon.
Speaker, I had the occasion to raise this issue with the previous
Defence Minister as well. Now, we have our current Defence Minister here. There
is a problem that we are facing in my constituency
Thiruvananthapuram, where we exactly have a military camp. It is an extremely
peaceful area. There has been no war since 1799. As far as I am
concerned, it is inexplicable that people whose houses are within 10 metres
are not allowed to renovate them. If one day some house collapses on passing by
citizens, we will have a tragedy of monumental proportions. I urge the
Government to kindly be reasonable about these matters to issue a quick
list, at least, exempting areas that are not in high-security zones so that
ordinary citizens can live their lives normally, repair their homes and at the
same140 time ensure the safety of surrounding areas. We have
been put into a position where there is a blanket rule, then160
court cases, further delays, and massive suspension. I think the result is that
lots of innocent people are suffering because they do not have an opportunity
to actually repair and reconstruct their homes. I would urge the Government to
have a flexible, humane approach in this matter. In highly sensitive and
high-security areas, we understand they need more time but this has been
dragged down for three years and many people are in danger of this situation
getting out of hand. I request for a reasonable response from the hon.
Minister.
Hon.
Speaker Sir, the question is well taken and we must appreciate the concern of
the hon. Member because he hails from there and he has to address280
the concerns of the people also. As I said, this is a part of the legacy
of the two Agreements which were appropriately accomplished by the then
Government, first in 1988 and then in 1998. Now, the reason why this issue320
of storage has come up is that the in-house storage in that reactor is going to
reach its full capacity by 2022. So, before that we are expected to make an
arrangement away from the reactor. This process is called `Away From Reactor’
storage. The exact location, as has also been hinted upon by the hon. Speaker,
I may not be able to identify for security reasons but certainly this is at a reasonable
distance from the reactor. The reactor gets filled up and this is then
stored for as many as 40 years deep down below the surface420
of the earth by nearly 15 metres and then it can be used for recycling.
The second concern which the hon. Member may have in his mind, and which has
also appeared in a section of media in Tamil Nadu is that it is going
to become a dumping site for waste fuel from all over India. I want to use480
this opportunity to clarify that it is not going to be so. Please rest
assured about this. It is going to be fuel-specific. So, any fuel which
is carried from Tarapur or from Rajasthan will automatically get rejected
because the inherent mechanism which is being put in place is like that. So,
let us rest assured that this fuel will be re-used for the same reactor which
is working in collaboration with Russia.
Sir,
I am glad that the560 hon. Member has raised this
issue. I think it requires to be shared with the rest of the House. As
she has said that I should give a convincing answer, I hope I will be able
to convince her also along with the other Members. The point here is, the
radiation which the hon. Member is possibly referring to is not something which
is in the lethal or a virulent criterion. In some of the countries in
the world today, for640 example, in France, they have
nuclear plants in residential colonies. The safeguard mechanisms are well built.
When this issue had come up in the House a few years ago, I did a small
research to find out as to how many scientists in the Bhabha Atomic
Research Centre had actually died of radiation or fallen sick due to radiation.700
I took out the mortality list and found that there were hardly three or
four untimely deaths. Out of them, two deaths were due to cancer which
were not related to radiation. In other words, what I am trying
to say is, first of all, it is the responsibility of all of us to
launch a mass awareness campaign that there is no radiation risk to
health from nuclear plants because the mechanism is so well built with
safeguards. Otherwise, what is happening is that wherever we start a new
plant or try to use the exploration site for future prospects800
of building a plant, due to lack of mass awareness, there are certain kinds of
apprehensions and resentments, and sometimes, political protests also come in.
We faced this in Rajasthan, and in Meghalaya in North East region.
As
far840 as the closed fuel processing
is concerned which you have already mentioned, the deposit is made deep
down, maybe, 15 metres below the surface of the earth. It is something which
has been practised, tried and found to be reliable after a number of years
of experimentation. The atomic energy plants in India are following some of
the most stringent methods of monitoring. Right from the time the
plant is planned, even before the construction of the plant starts, there is a
deep scrutiny carried out. During the construction, there is scrutiny every
three months. After construction also, there is scrutiny every six months.
There is a review after three years. Then, after five years, we have a
mechanism to get960 it reviewed by external sources. We have
Atomic Energy Regulatory Board. Upon that, we allow it to be monitored980
and scrutinised by the international Board, of which US is also a Member. So, I
think, this is a time-tested phenomenon which is going on.
Secondly, I would like to tell the House as to why this apprehension
comes in. I must appreciate the hon. Member. She was referring to some
of the incidents which happened abroad like Fukushima and all. Those plants
were located closer to what is known as the seismic zone or Tsunami
zone, because of lack of experience of the scientific fraternity at that time. In
our case, for example, the Kundankulam Nuclear Power Plant, the seismic
zone or Tsunami zone is in Indonesia which is nearly 1,300 kilometres away from
it. On the other hand, for the other plants which are located in the
Western Coast like Tarapur Nuclear Power Plant, etc., the nearest point1120
is in Pakistan which is again about more than 1,000 kilometres away. So, I
think, that apprehension is also not substantiated by scientific parameters.
Therefore, we should rest assured. Rather, all of us should try to
create mass awareness so that we can go ahead with these expansion programmes.
Now, we have brought the atomic energy plants even to North India.
Closer to Delhi, we are having one in Haryana. So, I think, in the expansion
campaign that we have started, mass awareness would be a great help.
Respected
Chairperson, Sir, I rise to support this Bill. I have gone through some
of the provisions of the Bill. It has already gone through the Standing
Committee which has made a couple of very good suggestions. The
hon. Member who spoke before me did say something about the Serious Fraud
Investigation1260 Office. Sir, 185 such cases have been reported
to the SFIO in 2017. Now, we have had over 30,000 registered1280
Chit Fund Companies in India, and if we talk about the unregistered Chit
Funds, the figure is approximately 100 times more. We have such a large
number in an informal sector, and I am happy to see that the Government is
trying its best to regulate this. Chit Funds, Committees, Kitties are the
various names given to it, and there has always been a sense of doubt
regarding all these funds. I have had one incident in my own constituency of
Jhansi, where a family of four was, unfortunately, burnt alive just before
Diwali. It is because most of these people tend to collect the money and
reimburse or disburse it back around Diwali. Unfortunately, there was over a crore1400
rupee lying in the house and someone looted it. So, we have seen what
happens when there is so much of unaccounted wealth or wealth which is
being supressed and not brought into the system. Such heinous crimes do take1440
place. This constantly seems to be a trend which is mainly because people think
that Chit Funds are very necessary. It is not the failure of the
banking system, as mentioned by an hon. Member earlier. Chit Funds are for a
limited period of time and for a specific purpose. Once that purpose is solved,
they are able to lend quicker, they are able to collect the money
quicker and people are able to get some kind of return from it. So, I am very
happy to see that the Government has brought in certain changes, and provisions
like increasing the limit to Rs. 3 lakh for an individual or to Rs. 18 lakh for
a firm will definitely help the people. Regarding technology, the only thing I
want to know is whether the data of recording done through video conferencing would
be stored somewhere so that it can be re-verified by all the investors.1595
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