Thaindian News

Chennai, Oct 17 (IANS) The anti-Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) agitators are gearing up to resume from Tuesday their struggle to demand the scrapping of the Rs.13,000 crore project in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli district.

“Around 100 villagers of Idinthakarai village will be on fast between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Tuesday. Idinthakarai will be the epicentre of our struggle. We will invite people from other neighbouring villages to participate in the fast from Wednesday,” M. Pushparayan, convenor of Coastal People’s Federation, told IANS.

India’s nuclear power plant operator Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL) is building two 1,000 MW nuclear power reactors with Russian technology and equipment in Kudankulam, around 650 km from here. The first unit is expected to go on stream in December.

“The total project cost is estimated to be around Rs.13,000 crore,” S.K. Jain, chairman and managing director of NPCIL, told IANS.

The whole project has run into local opposition at a time when the first unit is on the verge of being commissioned.

On Sunday, the agitators called off their protest in order to participate in the local body elections held Monday. They had announced plan to resume the agitation Tuesday.

Tuesday will see the agitation’s third phase. During the first phase of the protest held last month more than 120 villagers were on indefinite fast at Idinthakari and supported by other villagers.

On Sep 22, the Tamil Nadu government formally asked the central government to halt work on the reactors till local fears over safety were allayed and the agitators called off their struggle.

The activists resumed their protest Oct 9 after being dissatisfied with the outcome of the meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Oct 7.

A multi-party delegation from Tamil Nadu led by state Finance Minister O. Pannerselvam met the prime minister in New Delhi Oct 7 along with the anti-KNPP activists.

Manmohan Singh told the delegation that while work of the project, to be commissioned later this year, would proceed, a high-level committee would be set up to allay fears about the plant.

Following that in Idinthakarai village near Kudankulam, 106 protesters including 22 women started fasting Oct 9, demanding scrapping of the atomic power project.

Anti-nuclear activists started blocking the entry points to the power plant Oct 13 charging that the central government was not concerned about the life of 106 fasting protesters and demanding the scrapping of the project.

The protesters, including 22 women, started their protest Oct 9.

The Oct 13 blockade began a day after the prime minister wrote to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa stressing that scrapping the nuclear power project would affect the state’s industries.

The blockage nearly brought the maintenance activities at the first reactor to near standstill as employees were not able to enter their work place. Those who were inside did not come out for couple of days to carry of the essential maintenance work.