NPP at Mithivirdi will be set up 40 km from Bhavnagar and is located on sea coast on west side The Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCRZMA) has given nod for Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited's (NPCIL) proposed 6,000 Mw nuclear power plant in Mithivirdi, Bhavnagar. It has recommended the project for costal regulatory zone (CRZ) clearance to the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF). The proposed nuclear power plant (NPP), with six light water reactors (LWR) of 1000 Mw capacity each, has been facing stiff opposition from locals on the grounds that it would cause irreparable damage to environment. The NPP at Mithivirdi will be set up 40 km from Bhavnagar and is located on sea coast on west side of the Gulf of Khambhat, and will be spread across 777 hectare. The GCRZMA after hearing representation from NPCIL decided to "recommend to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India to grant CRZ clearance for construction of intake, outfall facilities, jetty and Desalination plant at Village: Mithivirdi, Dist: Bhavnagar by M/S Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited", at a recently held meeting. According to NPCIL sources, the project has got necessary recommendations from the Gujarat government and now it was upto the central government to provide environment and CRZ clearances. The report of the public hearing on the nuclear power project has already been submitted to the MoEF by the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), they added. Recommendation to the project was made by GCRZMA after detailed representations by NPCIL, where the company officials has submitted that there was no wildlife sanctuary /bird sanctuary/national parks around the proposed nuclear power plant location and within 10 km radius, besides any notified Ecologically Sensitive Area. The representative of the NPCIL, based on the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report prepared by the Engineers India Limited, and INDOMER Coastal Hydraulics (P) Ltd, had further submitted that the sea water is free from the major pollution and there was extremely poor and sparsely mangrove distributed in the study area. There was no turtle nesting ground or coral patches along the intertidal area, they had added. There was very less fishing activity observed in this area, NPCIL's EIA had claimed. NPCIL officials further assured that there will not be any contamination of radio activity in the effluent as the waste water from the plant will be collected in various collection and storage tanks prior to its treatment and disposal. In March this year, during the public hearing on the draft EIA report, over 4,000 farmers from villages of Mithivirdi, Jaspara, Mandva and Khadapar had opposed the NPP claiming that it would harm the environment and affect their livelihood. They further claimed that land of their villages would be lost due to the project. Their opposition was based on the fact that over 78% of land to be acquired for the project was agricultural land, while 19% was wasteland and over 2% was forest land. The proposed nuclear power plant is to be executed in three stages. The Stage-I will complete in 2019-20 followed by Stage-II in 2021-2022 and Stage-III in 2023-24.