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Will People's Power Explode Govt's Nuclear Plans?
By siliconindia
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Thursday, 22 September 2011, 01:00 IST
The Government had to bring the project to a standstill due to huge protest for the last 10 days at Idinthakarai, near project site. In excess of one lakh people have amalgamated in the demonstration to contest the nuclear power project. Hundreds of people are fasting against it. The protest is not only restricted to Idinthakarai, but the blazing issue is spreading in coastal districts of Tirunelveli, Tuticorin and Kannyakumari, and making an echo in southern region.
Minister of State in the Prime Minister Office V. Narayanasamy visited the venue amidst mass protest at Idinthakarai. "I will convey to the PM the people's sentiments and apprehensions. Their fears appear genuine. The Centre is ready to reconsider the project. People's safety comes first. Power comes later," he assured. This simple assurance has failed to appease the people of the region.
S.P. Udayakumar of People Movement Against Nuclear Energy stated, "We want the project to be abandoned. We want the Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa to pass a one-line resolution in the state assembly to press for its closure. With this assurance, she should send a delegation for the fast to be concluded."
Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has asked the Prime Minister to provisionally impede the work at the plant until the villagers are free of anxiety about their safety. Though the government is proficient that the plan meets the international safety standards, the local opposition against the plant is growing enormously. The nuclear reactors under construction are likely to assuage the state's power problems. In the meantime, the leaders heading against the plant demands Jayalalithaa to pass a resolution in the assembly to discard the Koodankulam project. With mounting protest, CM's position on nuclear plants takes a U-turn. She had earlier fortified the Koodankulam project but now attacked the Centre for its thoughtlessness on the issue.
Dr A. Gopalakrishnan, former chairman of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, warned, "If the government does not do anything to address public anger and allay the fears about the safety of nuclear technology, the entire nuclear program including running of the existing nuclear plants will be in trouble."
The incorporated energy policy of the country projects the need for an installed capacity at about 778 GW of power by 2032, if India has to sustain a growth rate of 8 per cent. Of this, the share of nuclear power is envisaged to be about 63,000 MW.
