Govt probing Kudankulam activists' fund source

V Narayanasamy, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, the first central minister to touch “ground zero” to cool tempers at Idinthakarai village, when the “People’s Movement Against KNPP” led by peace activist S  P Udhayakumar went on an indefinite hunger strike in September, during an interaction with the media at Tirunelveli, talked tough.

“As the agitation is continuing, questions about how the protest groups are able to mobilise people and from where funds are flowing to them have arisen,” Narayanasamy said. The government is probing the origin of the resources sustaining the agitation that entered its 27th day. Narayanasamy said the 50 questions raised by representatives of the Kudankulam area people with the Department of Atomic Energy team during their first meeting recently, will be answered soon.

It should help to dispel all the fears faced by the people ag­ainst the KNPP where two units of 1,000 MW each are co­ming up with Russian assista­nce. The minister’s remarks have taken the “Struggle Committee” by surprise, coming as they do in the backdrop of At­o­mic Energy Commission chief S Banerjee already ra­ising conc­e­rns over the movement of fore­igners in the area and in­t­ellig­e­nce agencies probing the sa­me.

Narayanasamy said it is the responsibility of the Centre and State governments to ensure that the plant is safe.

Other groups backing the KNPP have also jumped into the fray, the latest being the top industries associations at Coimbatore. Narayanasamy also made it clear that there is no need for the agitation to continue, when efforts are underway to add­r­ess all the iss­ues.
Only maintenance activit­ies are on in the plants and other wo­rks had been stopped at the request of the Tamil Nadu government.