A delegation of antagonists of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) in the Tirunelveli District on Wednesday called on Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and reiterated its opposition to the project.
S.P. Udayakumar, convener of the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), told reporters after holding a 15-minute-long meeting with Chief Minister Jayalalithaa at the Secretariat here that the delegation explained to her how unsafe the plant was. An account of the likely adverse impact of the plant on the environment and local population was also furnished to her.
“The Chief Minister gave us a patient hearing. She assured us that she would go through the documents carefully. She did not express any opinion,” he replied to a volley of questions on the response of the Chief Minister to the delegation's position.
ADVERTISEMENT
Though the delegation took exception to the way in which the State government's experts committee carried out its work in Tirunelveli district, the Chief Minister did not say anything about the committee's report.
He recalled that after the previous meeting between the representatives of the agitation and the Chief Minister in September, Ms Jayalalithaa immediately convened a meeting of the Cabinet and adopted a resolution to halt the work on the KKNNP until the fears of the local population over the safety of the plant were allayed.
Whether the issue of resumption of work at the plant site cropped up during the meeting, he replied: “We did not discuss it.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Mr. Udayakumar said his colleagues did not have political ambitions or aspiration to make money. He was not aware of the four non-governmental organisations against whom the Union government had registered cases.
To a question on the German national Sonnteg Reiner Hermann who was deported a few days ago, he wondered why the authorities did not arrest the foreigner and prosecute him as per the law of the land if he had done anything wrong. “Why did they deport him secretively,” he asked.