The local unit of Congress has taken a strong note of BJP which is now favouring a nuclear project, which it had opposed before.

CTCC president, Mr. B.B. Bahl in a statement said, "Does the election time permit our leaders to say anything that may be senseless but spoken just to befool the voters? This is what happened when the BJP leaders, earlier accusing sitting MP and congress candidate Pawan Kumar Bansal for lacking of development and not being able to bring not even a single big project to city, suddenly attacked him by stating the city could have a nuclear power plant but Bansal did not take initiative in this regard."

He said the statement was issued by none other than two-time MP, a designated senior advocate and National Legal Working Group of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Satya Pal Jain.

This was stated, not realizing that the same BJP had, in 2008 brought in a no confidence vote against congress led UPA government, opposing the nuclear energy.

Mr. Bansal in a public meeting said that the candidates had accused him for not taking up nuclear power project, the concept that was opposed by BJP in parliament. Further, these candidates had no idea that for a nuclear project what was the area requirement. It was not possible in Chandigarh, being a small city, Bansal said.

The stand might have changed now but there are other factors, because of which such power plant is not viable in the city.

The nuclear power plant needs huge chunk of land, several hundred acres, away from populated area, which the city does not have.

The distance from the population is not only required to avoid and damage in case of accident, when it can cause damage for a long distance. Studies have shown that even in case of no accident, nuclear power reactors release radioactivity to the air and the water on an ongoing basis. Such releases contribute to radiation exposure to both near and far from the site. Every radiation exposure increases the risk of cancer. That is the reason that the nuclear power plants are set up at places that are far away and even then after compliance of very strict norms.

The BJP leaders need to understand that opposing the opponents on such weak issues, which they themselves are not acquainted with, puts them also in a disgraceful situation before the literate residents of the city.