Hold public consultation on n-liability bill: Greenpeace

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Source: Sindh Today

New Delhi, May 7 (IANS) Greenpeace Friday opposed the Indian civil nuclear liability bill in its present form and said the contentious legislation should be sent for a public consultation to handle the matter in a democratic way.

The government introduced the bill in the Lok Sabha Friday amid uproar from opposition benches and a walkout by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Left Front members. The bill seeks to provide for civil liability for nuclear damage, the appointment of a claims commissioner and the establishment of a nuclear damage claims commission.

The environment body said the other option could be to send the bill to a joint parliamentary committee which should be empowered to make binding recommendations.

“The bill has various disturbing features other than the compensation amount. The risk should be calculated logically and the amount of money put as compensation should mirror it. The government cannot arbitrarily decide the compensation amount,” a statement issued by Greenpeace said.

It said the bill aims at quantifying life and capping compensation, just for profit of few foreign companies.

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