Holding that Maharashtra government was responsible for providing alternative accommodation to the persons displaced by the Tarapur Atomic Power Project, the Bombay High Court has asked the State to pay within three weeks Rs 20.37 lakh rent as compensation to 163 families.

Hearing a bunch of petitions filed by villagers, a bench headed by Justice Ranjana Desai and Justice R.V. More yesterday held that the State was responsible for providing alternative accommodation to the project-affected persons.

The petitions claimed that the government and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL), who built the project, had not fulfilled their commitments of giving rent to the people.

The project-affected families were not paid rent from June 2006 to March 2007, they claimed.

Rehab scheme

In 2004, the High Court had framed a rehabilitation scheme for the project-affected families under which they were to get rent compensation till they got possession of alternative accommodation.

This was to be paid by NPCIL which was to be disbursed through the district rehabilitation office.

The BJP leader Ram Naik, who had intervened in the petitions on behalf of the villagers, said rent was to be paid to 163 families at the rate of Rs 2,500 a month but the amount had not been disbursed to the project-affected people (PAP).

Mr Naik contended that NPCIL was a central organisation and hence the responsibility lay with the Centre to pay the compensation.

However, the court asked the State to pay the rent for the time being and said it would decide later on who was liable to pay.

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