Protesters’ march to Kudankulam

Anti-nuke activists have drawn up plans countrywide to observe March 11, the anniversary of Fukushima nuclear disaster to highlight nuclear safety issues. The activists plan to march towards Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu on March 15, to express solidarity with anti-nuke NGOs, who are at the receiving end of the government.

Addressing a press conference on Monday, activists also dispelled the impression that their agitation has escalated costs of the nuclear plant from Rs7,000 crore to Rs16,000 crore.

“The cost of Kudankulam plant had escalated even before agitation started due to supply problems and high interest costs,” said activist Praful Bidwai. Blaming cost overruns to agitation was absurd, he added. Another activist Achut Vinayak said the answer to the country’s energy problems was de-centralisation of power generation and evolving a mix of renewable energy resources.

Meanwhile, over a 100 eminent citizens including Admiral L Ramdas,  Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, Maj Gen SG Vombatkere, actress Sharmila Tagore, journalist Seema Mustafa , activist Sbahnam Hashmi and others have petitioned the prime minister Manmohan Singh to stop harassing anti-nuclear NGOs.

In a signed appeal, they said the “foreign hand” charge levelled against these NGOs is bizzare, because the government has staked all on installing foreign-origin reactors and tried to dilute the nuclear liability act under foreign pressure. They said the government’s attitude to nuclear hazards is worrisome given its abysmal and persistent failure to protect its citizens’ lives and rights in the Bhopal gas disaster.