PMANE terms it a drama

Terming the offsite emergency exercise at Nakkaneri near the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project site drama, the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), which is spearheading the anti-KKNPP agitation from Idinthakarai, on Saturday condemned the manner in which it was conducted.

In a statement, Anti-KKNPP Struggle Committee member M. Pushparayan said that the PMANE considered it a “secretive, illegal and fake disaster management training session,” conducted to create false records for satisfying AERB requirements.

“Dangerous, inhuman”

“This is a dangerous and inhuman thing to do. It jeopardizes the safety and well being of hundreds of millions of people. It has been our persistent demand that safety drills and evacuation exercises be conducted in every village and town in a 30-km radius of the Kudankulam plant.

“More importantly, these reactors are being set up in the midst of a highly and densely populated part of the country. Most of the local people cannot read and understand the English reports and much of the information on the Kudankulam plants have not been shared with the local people.

“The Tirunelveli district administration should explain why it did not make a prior announcement on the disaster management exercise and why the media was not invited. The district and State administration should desist from this kind of anti-people and illegal practices and work openly, transparently and responsibly.”