N-powered protestors refuse to budge

CHENNAI: As the agitation against the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) intensified at Idinthakarai with protestors continuing their indefinite fast for the fourth day, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday reiterated the Centre’s wish to implement the project as scheduled and once again sought the support of Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa for it.Singh in his second letter to Jayalalithaa on the issue assured that nothing would threaten the safety or livelihood of the people near Koodankulam.However, the PM kept silent about the main demand of the State government that further work on the plant be suspended until the fears of the local people were allayed. While reiterating that the Centre would not compromise on safety for nuclear energy, the PM did not make any announcement on the formation of the experts’ committee as promised by him to the Tamil Nadu delegation on October 7. Instead, he merely recalled his promise to the TN delegation to form a group of experts to interact with the people and that this exercise would suitably involve the State government.Writing to the CM on his meeting with the TN delegation on October 7, Singh said Tamil Nadu would lose if the nuclear power project was given up and the development plans of the State would be affected.Meanwhile, slamming Manmohan Singh’s letter, protest committee leader S P Udayakumar told Express that though the letter was not written to the protestors, they had rejected it. “He mentioned that the safety and livelihood of the people would not be threatened. But it was not correct,” he said.Meanwhile, at Idinthakarai, many people from nearby villages also joined the fast by the 106 youths against the KKNPP. In the past three days, schoolchildren also took part in the agitation, raising slogans. A representative of the protestors told Express that the State should ask the Centre to honour the resolution adopted by the State Cabinet, adding that efforts were on to organise Statewide protests for the plant’s closure.Some protestors intercepted around 50 contract staff of the plant and sent them back to Koodankulam.