Villagers stand in sea to protest Kudankulam nuclear plant

Chennai, Sep 13 (IANS) Hundreds of people from Tamil Nadu’s Idinthakarai village, the epicentre of the protests against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP), would continue their ‘jal satyagraha’ or peaceful water protest Friday, an activist said.

“We plan to continue the ‘jal satyagraha’ Friday,” M. Pushparayan, a leader of the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) told IANS over the phone from Idinthakarai.

Hundreds of protestors stood in the sea water Thursday to give expression to their anger at moves to load uranium fuel in one of the two reactors.

Buffeted by the sea waves, the villagers carried out their protest till 4 p.m., Pushparayan said.

“We will stay in the sea, we will protest against the loading of uranium fuel in one of the reactors. No one can stop us from protesting,” Immaculate, a protestor standing in waist-deep sea water, said.

Forming a human chain in the sea, the villagers from around the Kudankulam nuclear plant followed a similar ‘jal satyagraha’ in Madhya Pradesh against the Omkareshwar Dam on the Narmada.

“Any kind of satyagraha where people are (willing to) take their lives is not an ordinary protest. It is a non-violent appeal to the powers that be and the power holders who must really listen to people,” social activist Medha Patkar told a TV channel.

“I think even the constitution says that people’s consent is necessary… Forcible eviction in the name of progress for development or power is absolutely not understandable and it is not justifiable,” she added.

Emphasising that KNPP should not be pushed, she said: “Talk to the people, hold dialogue until they are convinced of not only safety… but all issues of economical, social and politics related to nuclear powers.”

“Police have issued summons to PMANE coordinator S.P. Udayakumar and his wife,” Pushparayan said.

On Wednesday, protestors ended their 48-hour relay fast in Idinthakarai village in Tirunelveli district to protest police use of teargas shells and batons to disperse crowds and the constabulary conducting house-to-house searches.

The over one year-long protests against the Kudankulam nuclear power project turned violent Monday, leaving one agitator dead in police firing in the Tuticorin district and several injured in a police baton charge.

Indian atomic power plant operator Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL) is building two 1,000 MW reactors with Russian help at Kudankulam.

Villagers under the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) banner have opposed the project for the past year, fearing for their safety, especially since the nuclear disaster at Fukushima in Japan March 2011.

Three days ago, the Madhya Pradesh government agreed to give land as compensation and reduce the height of Omkareshwar Dam, following the protestors in Khandwa district standing in neck-deep water for days in an attempt to to block the dam work.

IANS 2012-09-13 19:54:53