Fast against TN nuclear plant continues

Though this posed a tough call for the Central Governm­ent and the Nuclear Power Corp­oration of India Limited, which has built the two nuclear reactors with Russian assistance in this coastal village, about 75 km from the district headquarters of Tirunelveli, villagers in and around Kudankulam found Amma’s reassurance “far-reaching.”

 As Deccan Herald went around the fasting venue at Idinthakarai coastal hamlet, about two km north of the plant site, official information from Chennai came as a huge relief for the 120-odd people on hunger-strike that Jayalalitha had given the assurance to the delegation led by the prime mi­nister’s envoy and Minister of State V Narayanaswamy, who met her there with protestors’ representatives.

The Union minister came on Tuesday along with the nuclear establishment’s top officials to personally see the intensity and scale of the pro­tests, as thousands of citizens from neighb­o­uring villages continue to exp­r­ess their solidarity with the agitationists to stop the nuclear project, “even if it be at this late stage.” Its first unit is to be commissioned shortly.

Once the protesters’ represe­ntatives return with a copy of the Cabinet resolution on Th­ursday, the fast will be called off for now, Anton Gomez, an anti-nuclear activist said.