NAGERCOIL: People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy Coordinator S P Udayakumar on Sunday met Union Minister for State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Pon Radhakrishnan at his residence and requested to arrange for an appointment with Prime Minister and Union Minister for Environment and Forests.
Udayakumar along with Sundarrajan of Poovulagin Nanbargal, Idinthakarai Parish Priest Fr Jayakumar and a group of women activists from Idinthakarai met the Union Minister at his residence near CEO office in the town and handed over a petition.
The petition addressed from Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari People, PMANE, Idinthakarai stated that, a total of six workers got injured in the accident that took place at Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) on 14 May, 2014. Of them, two workers who sustained 70 degree burn injuries were shifted to Apollo hospitals in Chennai and even after a month’s time there was no information about them. Similarly from January 2013 to 17 May 2014, a total of 5.2 crore has been spent as medical expense for KKNPP workers. The public living at Koodankulam and Idinthakarai areas should also have been affected with such diseases. But, till date no one had rendered any help to them.
“Though the KKNPP continue to function with such problems, cases foisted against us remain as it is and more pressure is being put on us.”
During election time, the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government obtained special permission from the election commission in a hasty manner and signed the agreement for the third and fourth units at KKNPP. “Now we are getting information that the preliminary works for the third and fourth units have started and construction works for fifth and sixth units are also going on”.
As it was spoiling the Konkan regions environment and fishermen’s welfare, on 7 June, 2014 Shiv Sena partymen and Maharashtra state BJP party cadres led by Vinod Tawde met Union Environment and Forest Minister Prakash Javadekar and demanded him to scrap the Jaitapur Nuclear Power plant project. The BJP which was safeguarding the well being and interest of the Maharashtra people should not leave behind the South Indians, said Udayakumar in his petition.
He also asked Pon Radhakrishnan to help them to get an appointment with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union minister for Environment and Forest Prakash Javadekar to submit their appeals.
Later, while speaking to media persons, the minister said that since the KKNPP had started operating, now it could not be scrapped. He said that, BJP was the first to protest against the commissioning of the nuclear plant in the initial period.
“Our struggle in those early periods was not to commission the plant in a populated place. However, no one paid heed to our protest and it remained neglected. Now the KKNPP has been commissioned and therefore it will be even more difficult to scrap the project and no one will accept it,” the Minister said. He added that people living in that region should be ensured of their safety.