On Tuesday (August 30), eleven years after the catastrophic nuclear accident, the evacuation order in Futaba, the town that houses the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, was removed.
Futaba is the last of the eleven municipalities affected by the quake-induced tragedy to have an evacuation order removed.
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Over 80 per cent of Futaba’s total land area is still classified as “difficult-to-return” zones even though people are now permitted to return home. However, as per an IANS report, only a few former inhabitants are anticipated to move back in.
Xinhua news agency reports that the town where the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. complex is located was given the go-ahead to evacuate after a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, rendering the region uninhabitable due to high radiation levels.
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In addition, according to a study conducted last year, 60.5 per cent of the residents had made the decision not to move back, outnumbering the 11.3 per cent who had shown a desire to do so, according to Kyodo News.
As of late July 3,574 individuals from 1,449 homes, or more than 60 per cent of the town’s population, were listed as residents of the two regions.
However, only 85 people from 52 families participated in a preparatory programme that began in January, according to the study, which allowed residents to return temporarily. IANS also reported that the municipal authority hopes to see a rise in the population to 2,000 by the year 2030.
(With inputs from agencies)
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