The agitation against Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant turned violent on Thursday night as police ‘bashed up’ six physically challenged persons sitting in fast at the project site.
The activists of People’s Movement against Nuclear Energy intensified their agitation from Friday morning which literally brought all works in the reactors to a grinding halt . Tamil Nadu is witnessing a rare kind of agitation with the civilian population in Tirunelveli expressing their solidarity with the anti-nuclear activists in their demand for the closure of the KNPP.
“No works could be done as scientists and technicians were not allowed inside the KNPP by the agitators. The district administration is taking stock of the situation and we are waiting for words from them,” N K Balaji, project director, KNPP, told DNA. He said the emergency works inside the reactors were being done with a team of skeleton staff.
SP Udaya Kumar and Pushparajan, the two young leaders of the PMANE emphatically declared on Friday that nothing short of a closure of the KNPP was acceptable to them.
“We will not allow these reactors to come up here. Let them shut it down and go for some kind of renewable energy like solar or wind. This is our final word,” said Udaya Kumar.
Pushparajan said the police on late Thursday night bashed up the physically challenged persons without any provocation.
“Vijayendra Bidari, the young superintendent of police, himself led the police team in beating up the agitators. Rajamony (49), Manikandan (29) Thangadurai (35), Selvakumar(31), Swayambu(37) and Raja (32) were brutally assaulted by the police. When we took them to a government5 hospital, they were denied treatment at the instance of the police. Hence we had to admit them to a private hospital,” said Pushparajan.
Neither the collector or the SP were available for comments. Udaya Kumar said he was not sure about any help from the politicians. “What we conveniently forget is the fact that hundreds of thousands of locals would have to live with fear because of these reactors. The Gulf of Mannar Marine Park, which is home to thousands of flora, fauna and some of the exotic marine life found in the world will be totally destroyed by this reactors,” he said.
He said the agitation would be continued till the government declares the close down of the KNPP. Balaji agreed that the agitation has intensified since Friday morning. “We are all staying back in our residences as all roads leading to KNPP have been taken over by them,” he said.
