Kudankulam protests continue, entry points to plant blocked
October 14th, 2011 - 3:38 pm ICT by IANS
Chennai, Oct 14 (IANS) Activists continued to protest outside Tamil Nadu’s Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) Friday, preventing employees of the plant from going inside to work.
For the past six days, 106 people have been on fast demanding scrapping of the nuclear power project. The relay fast is being held at Idinthakarai village near Kudankulam in the district, around 650 km from here.
Villagers have surrounded all the entry points to KNPP.
Around 25 employees, forming part of essential services group, were escorted by police to the plant at 5 a.m., a senior official on condition of anonymity told IANS.
Around 1,000 contract workers are working at the site.
“The condition is tense. So please wait for other employees to be escorted,” a police officer said.
KNPP officials told IANS that plant maintenance was being taken care of by skeletal staff. On an average, around 1,000 people work per shift.
Giving a boost to the Kudankulam protesters, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa had said Thursday: “I am one amongst you. The Tamil Nadu government will act in a way that respects the local people’s feelings.”
The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) is building two 1,000 MW capacity nuclear power reactors with Russian technology and equipment in Kudankulam. The first unit is expected to go on stream in December.
The total project cost is estimated to be around Rs.11,500 crore.
The activists are angry with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for telling Jayalalithaa that the state’s industrialisation would be impacted by the non-availability of electricity if the 2,000 MW Kudankulam nuclear power project was scrapped.
- Kudankulam project workers stopped, asked not to work - Oct 13, 2011
- Will try for amicable Kudankulam solution: Narayanasamy (Lead) - Oct 13, 2011
- Kudankulam protesters to resume struggle Tuesday - Oct 17, 2011
- Kudankulam protest fast enters sixth day - Oct 23, 2011
- Protest against Kudankulam project resumes - Oct 09, 2011
- Green signal for Kudankulam, Rs.500 crore for region (Lead) - Mar 19, 2012
- Situation calm in Kudankulam, more protestors arrested (Lead) - Sep 11, 2012
- Now, a pro-Kundankulam rally - Nov 11, 2011
- Kudankulam relay fast enters 10th day - Oct 27, 2011
- Kudankulam crew replaced as protest halts - Oct 17, 2011
- Tamil Nadu okays Kudankulam n-plant - Mar 19, 2012
- Kudankulam row: Anti-nuke yatra starts Thursday - Nov 09, 2011
- Kudankulam relay fast enters second day - Oct 19, 2011
- Activists brief Jayalalithaa on Kudankulam hazards (Lead) - Feb 29, 2012
- It's David vs Goliath at Kudankulam: Anti-nuke activist - Feb 28, 2012
Tags: chief minister, contract workers, essential services, india ltd, industrialisation, j jayalalithaa, manmohan, manmohan singh, npcil, nuclear power corporation, nuclear power project, nuclear power reactors, plant maintenance, prime minister manmohan, prime minister manmohan singh, russian technology, services group, six days, skeletal staff, tamil nadu government