Looming threat

a proposal of the Punjab government to build a nuclear power plant in Darauli village of Patiala district has led to large-scale resistance from the residents of 25 villages of the district. The villagers have expressed concern about the environmental and health impacts that are likely to follow once the construction of the nuclear power plant commences. The Punjab state electricity board ( pseb ) recently took a group of farmers from the villages to Narola in Uttar Pradesh, where a nuclear power plant is in operation. "It is a horror to be living in the vicinity of a nuclear plant. Each day, the residents of Narola have to get their products, such as vegetables and milk, tested at the plant's laboratory," said Amrik Singh, a resident of Banwala village. "They are also suffering from all kinds of ailments," Singh added. But the state government seems to be unmindful. "I am aware about the protests," said Rajesh Chhabra, Punjab's irrigation and power secretary.