Having faced stiff opposition from various quarters agains the mining project, UCIL CMD Ramendra Gupta claimed during a seminar here on Wednesday that the people at the mining site in West Khasi Hills district here were in favour of the project.
"The opposition has come from some individuals and organisations who are not directly connected with the project,'' he said.
The state government and the locals are not opposed to it," Gupta said. Stating that the government and the UCIL are working in tandem to convince the people about the huge benefits of the project, he said, "Land owners at the Rs 1084crore project have already signed an agreement with the UCIL to lease out their land for the project".
He also sought to allay fears of displacement, saying that only 351 hectares was required for the project.
The positive note from the UCIL came in the backdrop of a study by experts from North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) which concluded that radiation from mining would not cause any health hazards, a fear that led to opposition to the project.
The three-year long research by NEHU found that the radiation in the mining areas is very low compared to places where there are no uranium deposits.
