KANNIYAKUMARI: Around 1 lakh people, including children, from the coastal villages of Kanniyakumari district, formed a human chain on Sunday against IREL’s atomic mineral mining project. Protestors held placards seeking the permanent closure of the IREL plant in Manavalakurichi.
The 2,827-acre mining project is set to come up in the revenue villages of Keezhmidalam A, Midalam B, Enayamputhenthurai, Ezhudesam A, B & C and Kollencode A & B of Killiyoor taluk.
According to sources, the demonstration, organised by the People’s Movement Against Atomic Minerals Mining, spanned all coastal villages except Chinnavilai and Periyavilai.
The organisation’s media head Kurumpanai C Berlin told TNIE that mining efforts in Kurumpanai would encroach upon burial grounds and residential and religious places.
The protest was also for the protection of natural resources in Kanniyakumari. Poothurai Muslim Jamaath’s chief priest A K Ayoob Khan, who also participated in the human chain, said that no project should adversely affect the public.
B Raja from Kalingarajapuram said people of all faiths will continue to protest the project.