[1]Minister of state for environment Jairam Ramesh is headed for a fresh controversy, with his ministry rejecting a proposal by the department of atomic energy (DAE) to start exploratory drilling for uranium at Balphakram National Park located in the South Garo Hills of Mehgalaya.
The ministry took this decision keeping in mind the sentiments of the local population following an intensified agitation against uranium mining in this region.
But the decision is bound to raise the cudgels of the department of atomic energy, which has been pressing the PMO on the need to start mining in the Garo Hills at the earliest given that India’s own domestic uranium supplies have touched an all-time low.
This shortage has already caused many of the country’s existing nuclear plants to operate at less than their normal capacity, experts warned.
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