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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Kudankulam row: Hundreds of villagers protest near plant -Mala Das

Kudankulam row: Hundreds of villagers protest near plant -Mala Das

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published Published on Oct 8, 2012   modified Modified on Oct 8, 2012
-NDTV

Kudankulam: Thousands of fishermen from 40 villages around the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu have surrounded the area from about 500 metres in the sea and are shouting slogans to protest against the plant. This is a token seige of the plant, since they will not be allowed by policemen to get any closer. Activist SP Udhayakumar, who is spearheading the anti-plant protests, today said in their next action, protestors would lay siege to the Tamil Nadu Assembly in Chennai on October 29.
 
Mr Udhayakumar's organisation, the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), has said apart from the fishermen in Tirunelveli and the adjoining Kanyakumari and Thoothukudi districts, volunteers from various political parties are expected to participate in separate protests planned across the state. "We are laying siege against fuel loading. It will be a peaceful, non-violent protest as we have been doing for some time now. We have asked authorities to treat our protesters with respect, to respect their democratic rights. We have appealed to the government against fuel loading at the plant. When the entire world is shunning nuclear power, why shouldn't we?...we will not cross our boundaries...the protesters have been clearly told there will be no vandalism, they will not attack security officials," Mr Udhayakumar said.

There is heavy security on all roads leading to the plant to prevent any untoward situation. Personnel from the Additional Coast Guard, Rapid Action Force, Central Reserve Police Force and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) have been deployed at all key junctions, the plant site and in the neighbouring villages.

On September 22, the protesters, on-board around 500 boats, had laid siege to the Tuticorin port against loading of uranium in the atomic power plant. The protesters, including fishermen, had also staged a 'Jal Satyagraha' in the sea for hours at Koothakuzhi, 10 km from the Kudankulam plant, by forming a human chain in the water.

The first unit of the Kudankulam plant was scheduled to be commissioned in December last year but has been delayed due to protests by locals over safety concerns. The locals say they are worried about ecological damage by radioactivity which could affect the livelihood of thousands of fishermen around the plant. Activists have also cited the Fukushima disaster in Japan, triggered by a tsunami last year, to draw parallels about the dangers of a nuclear plant.
 
A protest against fuel loading in the nuclear power plant, that went on over several days, was broken up by police after the Madras High Court gave its green signal to operationalise the plant. Police who had cordoned off the area around the plant had been taken by surprise after the protesters approached the plant by walking along the beach, leading to a stand-off.
 
The Madras High Court had, at the end of August, dismissed all petitions that sought either abandonment of the project or postponement of its commissioning.
 
Activists had the moved the Supreme Court to stall the commissioning even as fresh protests had again delayed the process of loading fuel in the reactor. The Supreme Court has said that it will not hesitate in stopping the work at the Kudankulam nuclear power plant if it finds that safety measures at the plant in Tamil Nadu are unsatisfactory. The court made these observations while hearing an appeal against the Madras High Court order that allowed fuel loading at the plant.

A bench of justices KS Radhakrishanan and Deepak Misra said the safety of plant and the people living in its vicinity is its prime concern and issued notices to the Centre and Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board on a plea challenging the environmental clearance given to the controversial project.

"We will not hesitate to stop the plant if we find that the mandatory safety requirements have not been taken care of at the site," said the bench while posting the case for further hearing on October 4.

The Centre, however, maintains that the plant is "fully equipped to withstand" Fukushima-type incidents.

Kudankulam is the first Indian nuclear plant to go functional after the Fukushima tragedy in March last year.

(With PTI inputs)

NDTV, 8 October, 2012, http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/kudankulam-row-villagers-plan-to-lay-siege-near-plant-today-parties-expected-to-join-in-276745?pfrom=home-health


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