The Communist Party of India (Marxist), some other political parties, scientists and activists have joined hands to set up a national committee to support the struggle against the Jaitapur nuclear project in Maharashtra.
A 15-member national committee in support of the Jaitapur Struggle will have CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, his Communist Party of India counterpart A.B. Bardhan, the former Atomic Energy Regulatory Board Chairman Dr. A. Gopalkrishnan and the former Union Finance Secretary, S.P. Shukla as members.
The other members are Lok Jan Shakti Party chief Ramvilas Paswan, Sitaram Yechury of the CPI(M), D. Raja and Prakash Reddy of the CPI, Nama Nageswara Rao of the Telugu Desam Party, Danish Ali of the Janata Dal (Secular), Vivek Monteiro of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, N.D. Patil of the Peasants and Workers Party, Bhai Vaidya of the Socialist Party (India), Pravin Gavankar of the Janhit Seva Samiti, and Sulabha Brahme of the Konkan Bachao Samiti.
“The people of Jaitapur and the surrounding areas in Ratnagiri district have been struggling against the setting up of the giant nuclear project which will have six nuclear reactors bought from the French Areva company. This project has displaced farmers and mango orchards. The livelihood of thousands of fishermen is threatened,” the CPI (M) said in a statement here on Sunday.
Threat to ecology
“There is a serious threat to the ecology and environment of the region. The Areva EPR reactors have not been commissioned anywhere in the world, not even in France. They are prohibitively expensive and the technology is untried and untested,” it said.
After the Fukushima disaster in Japan, it claimed, there were “serious concerns’’ about the safety and the health of the people in the region.
The popular protests in Ratnagiri district have been met with severe police repression and permanent restrictions on holding protests and false cases have been instituted on many activists, it alleged.
To extend support to the people's struggle in Jaitapur and to mobilise support all over the country to demand a halt to the Jaitapur project, it has been decided to set-up a national committee. The committee will organise a country-wide campaign against the Jaitapur nuclear project, the statement said.
