Chandigarh, June 22 (IANS) Despite continuing controversy over acquisition of land for a proposed nuclear power plant in Haryana, the state government has proposed two new sites for setting up another nuclear plant.

 
 A spokesman of the Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited (HPGCL) said Wednesday that the state government has offered two probable sites to the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) for setting up a second nuclear power plant.
 
 These sites are in Balsamand area of Hisar district and in Kitlana-Nimiriwali-Ajitpur area of Bhiwani district.
 
 Giving details, the HPGCL spokesman said a team of NPCIL and HPGCL officers will visit the sites on Thursday and Friday (June 23 and 24) to assess their suitability for setting up a second nuclear power plant.
 
 Haryana has already begun the process for acquisition of land in Gorakhpur and Kumaria village area of Fatehabad district for setting up a nuclear power plant.
 
 A section of farmers of that area are opposing the project due to environmental concerns and refusing to allow acquisition of their land.
 
 During the visit, the NPCIL team will collect details regarding availability of water, cropping pattern, power evacuation arrangements and distance from nearest railway head, in order to proceed further with the project.
 
 The HPGCL spokesman said that land owners of village Balsamand, through their village council (panchayat), have submitted a memorandum to the Haryana chief minister in April, expressing their willingness to sell around 18,000 acres of land for setting up a power project.
 
 During a recent meeting at Panchkula, near here, NPCIL had said that the concerns voiced after the recent Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in Japan were not applicable to India.