Terming the Rs.500-crore rehabilitation package announced by the State government, “an attempt to bribe the anti-Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project protesters,” the anti-KKNPP struggle committee convener, S.P. Udayakumar, on Monday said that the government, which succumbed to undue pressure from the Centre, should not malign the ongoing protest.
Speaking to The Hindu at Idinthakarai, Dr. Udayakumar said that at a time when Tamils were celebrating the Centre's decision to back the United States-sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka “for the island nation's war crimes against Tamils in the last phase of the war,” the State Cabinet had dropped a bombshell by announcing that work at KKNPP could be resumed. To make things worse, it had announced a Rs.500-crore rehabilitation package for development of the areas around the KKNPP.
“Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, who had earlier said that she would be with the protesters until their genuine apprehensions about the project were cleared, has announced that work can be resumed at the upcoming project, where several irregularities have been identified.
The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), in violation of the norms of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is trying to load the actual fuel rods into the reactor without conducting the mandatory ‘safety drill' for the locals.
“If the VVER reactors being built by Russia are the best in the world, the supplier could have accepted the Nuclear Liability Bill in its present form and these reactors would have been accepted by the West Bengal government. The Union government is making sustained attempts to target Tamils by establishing these nuclear reactors at Kudankulam,” he Dr. Udayakumar alleged.
He said the Cabinet decision had only shown that Tamils fighting for their right to live had been abandoned.
A Dornier aircraft made a couple of sorties in the evening over the project site after fishermen from neighbouring coastal hamlets started reaching the protest venue by sea.
Police sources said that DIGs Ramasubramanian (Ramanathapuram), Sanjay Mathur (Dindigul) and Varadharaju (Tirunelveli), 10 SPs and around 5,000 policemen had been deployed around the village near KKNPP.
“The Central Industrial Security Force, in a bid to bolster the existing strength, has decided to send 300 more jawans on Tuesday and the IG from Mumbai and DIG from Hyderabad are expected to arrive at Kudankualm on Tuesday,” the police sources added.
Keywords: Kudankulam project
It is a good news for the country. The continuous efforts to delay the
growth of nuclear power porjects is by insiders and outsiders both.
There are people like D. Udaykumar those who can notify the problems
but could never give any profitable contribution towards the nation.
Can you think a day without electricity? Just imagine no power in the
whole country for a day. There are problems in developing
technologies. US, Japan, France, Russia and other nations are enjoying
the power of nuclear energy. The coal is sufficient hardly for twenty
years in our country and after that we will have to completly
dependent on some other power resources. Nuclear is the one, dangerous
if not handeled properly but whether Mr. D Uday Kumar knows that how
many nuclear power plants are running in country and which one is
safer that Kundakullam. If you compare we have to stop all. In our
country the poverty is the problem which bring people for protest even
for Rs.500/-. Uday sir think who do serve?
So ultimately the facade has come off the face of Mr. Udhayakumr. It is
now very evident that he is more of a rabble rousing secessionist than
anti-nuclear activist and his motives are slowing getting revealed
through his rant about perceived "anti-tamil" policies of India .
Aman, There will be lobbyists for nuclear power since it is big money. But nuclear techonology is important for india. It is only been perfected only by few countries and india is part of that group. Let's use the technology for the benefit of mankind. If there is fraud or corruption there are other forums, I agree they though they are ineffective, but this should not be the sole reason to oppose nuclear power. There are years of efforts to reach this point.
@Aman / @Gokul,
Aman, I do agree the protest across the world in regard to Nuclear engery and its hazards but my point is if they should have started to do this protest the moment the govt of India decided to go ahead in setting up this plat in TN, all this while there could have been protest but it came out so harsh only after the disaster in Japan.
Gokul, I may not have Dr.Udhaya's full history but from those i read in the Internet, if he had been so concerned about the harmfulness of this Plant, he should have tried to educate the locals and staged protest during Rajiv Gandhi Period coz he was pioneer in setting up this Plant in TN.
My only concern is why coz of him entire TN is facing problems.
I am not against him but I am against the time in which he launched this massive protest.
It is time for Mr. Udaykumar to put a stop to his unreasonable and obstinate protest against the NPP. He has rejected all efforts to explain the safety of the plant because he already made up his minds against the plants. Mr. Udaykumar and his accomplishes should be arrested if he resorts to illegal forms of protests or engages in blocking the activities at the plant. He incorrectly refers to NPP in West Bengal, there was not even land acquisition took place which was scuttles due to opposition from TMC just as its opposition put a stop to Tata Nano plant or the chemical plant in Nandigram. WB was the loser because of negative campaign since industries are now reluctant to come to WB due to TMC history of anti-industrialization. TN and the India in general has been suffering from lack of power and this NPP would be a great boon to alleviate that to a great extent.
@Gokul
The struggle is all but over. It was doomed to fail because the fears and the concerns were imaginary. The locals who are mostly uneducated were misled by Udhayakumar and Co. I mean come on, did anyone believe that a plant that is 99% complete will be scrapped because of a few dozen people?
The churches in the area funded the protest as they feared that once the area gets developed and the people educated, they will no longer be able to control the people and convert them.
The govt must take strong action against these elements. The cases such as Waging war and Sedition are a good move.
Hope the good work continues and the plant is commissioned soon.
Nukes for Power, Nukes for Peace, Nukes for energy security
Jai Hind !!
Idinthakkakari alone is not Tamil Nadu or Udhayakumar the sole representative of Tamils. He must shut his mouth. Now he is hiding inside rat hole. If he has any guts he should walk to the nearest police post and surrender himself to the law of the land. Is he thinks himself as another messiah?
With the present modus operandi of grabbing 70% for oneself and
placing only 30% into developmental projects one can well imagine what
the pittance of Rs 500 crores will accomplish! Possibly Koodankulam
will acquire a few roads leading to a New Hospital where the rise in
cancer cases from radiation will bring big dividends to the political
groups involved in pushing this project. It is well-known that
politicians also have big shares in pharmaceuticals!
To those interested in creating a safer India while this unnecessary
drama goes on for eventually the will of the people DOES COUNT, it is
better, we look seriously at alternatives. Spain has installed a CSP
solar project providing electricity DAY AND NIGHT! Please check this
project It uses cheap parabolic mirrors instead of expensive photo
voltaic solar panels and is very cost effective. It is entitled on
youtube "Australia's Energy Security-24/7 Concentrated Solar Thermal
Power Plus Molten Salt Storage (CSP+) by 100percentRenewables
The decision of the TN government is to be hailed by one and all. The development of the state with respect to investments for new industries had come to a stand still due to the acute power shortage. The protests seem to have an ulterior motive. If Dr.Udhayakumar had genuine concerns, he should have highlighted these and protested when the project had commenced, not when it was time to be commissioned. There arer more road accidents caused by alcholism each year than by the numner of nuclear accidents. Let the protesters fight against alcoholism.
Mr. Dave, What do you know about the history of KKNPP. Mr. Udhayakumar and his group had organized meetings with the locals, very early during the initial stages of the project. He recalls how he was chased away from kudankulam, by the villagers who were then wooed by announcement of those attractive schemes.
Fukushima accident and the continued struggles by the PMANE activist resulted in this relentless people's struggle. I admire their will power, when the 'learned' (?!) citizens of the whole nation including Mr.Kalam, Dr. Singh and TN CM are against them... Long live, the struggle...
@DaveC: Protests around the world, including in India, far pre-date the Japan
nuclear disaster; there is a very detailed history of the nuclear industry's persistent
fraud, deception, and failure (including in the US)--all of which is well recorded in
the literature and in journalism. It is you, not Mr. Udhay Kumar, who is new to this
resistance.
Ahead of announcing the decision to resume activity at the nuclear plant, the Tamil Nadu government should have published a paper in the local language displaying the manner in which each and every item of concern to the public had been addressed. The failure to do this adequately smacks of arrogance. It is not an earthquake on the Tamil Nadu coast that one is talking about. A shallow earthquake of 9 to 10 on the coast of Sumatra can send waves up to 30 meters to the East Coast of India within two hours time. The authorities have no doubt provided for this eventuality. What they have not done is to display the manner in which they have done, in the public domain. As for nuclear liability law that is being tested in the Supreme Court. It is likely that if the government of India insists on letting the suppliers get away very lightly, the balance of liability might have to be borne by the government itself.
Having a Habit of getting a Bribe from Abroad...Mr Udaykumar should Not
term Government Package as Bribe
I am curious to understand where was this Dr.UdhyaKumar before the disaster happened in Japan, If nothing has happened he would have kept his mouth shut, Why he did not stage this protest during the initial stage. I am still not sure what made him to do the protest after Japan disaster.
Now that TN govt has made a bold move, I take this moment to send my wishes to Govt of TN and CM. I also wish the Govt.of India to start the production asap and try to lessen the burdon of people in TN due to power failure.
Good Luck Govt of India, TN and Citizen.
Mr.Udaykumar's claim that tamils are being targetted by building nuclear plants is ridiculous, There is a nuclear power plant in western ghats of karnataka and other parts of country. Considering the number of nuclear accidents and other types of unexpected disasters for ex. railway accidents, aircraft accidents, nuclear power plants are very safe and are monitored more strictly. Mr.Udaykumar's is a hollow cry.
Dear Sir,
The Central and the State Experts Committee and the Honororable Former Indian President Nuclear Scientist APJ Kalam have given the best assurances about the safety of the plant. In spite of all these, Dr. Udhayakumar is deliberately organizing the protest to close the plant. Now, as our Honorable Chief Minister has shown the green flag for the commissioning, he is making all sorts of absurd remarks over the CM and all others. It is highly condemnable and he should be dealt with properly for betterment of the nation.
"The Union government is making sustained attempts to target Tamils by establishing these nuclear reactors at Kudankulam."Way to go Mr.Uday Kumar.I think he even has reasons why the whole country is conspiring to deny Tamils the right to life.
And they say their arguments are scientific.
Right! The Govt could have given 1/5th the amount to him and the
Church guys earlier and the protest would have been withdrawn
earlier! After all they did get crores from abroad!
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