Kaiga N-plant stir called off after Karnataka CM’s assurance

The indefinite strike of villagers living near Kaiga Generating Station, demanding proper rehabilitation package, was called off after chief minister DV Sadananda Gowda assured them he would take up the issue with the Centre.

The CM said he would seek an order from the prime minister’s office to settle the dispute between the villagers and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL).

The representatives of 40 villages, numbering about 35, were told by the district officials that the chief minister’s letter had been forwarded to the prime minister to shift the villagers—about 500 of them—from the 5-km radius of the Kaiga nuclear plant to some other location with proper compensation. However, the Karwar district officials did not divulge the contents of the letter.

The protestors began their agitation in front of the district office in Karwar on December 12, 2011. According to Chandrahas Kotarkar, the leader of the agitation, “Our objective has been achieved. The state government has acted and taken our concerns to the prime minister’s office. I am sure Dr Manmohan Singh will consider the chief minister’s appeal and act accordingly.”

Gowda’s move to approach the prime minister comes only a few days after Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa cleared the launch of Kundankulum nuclear power project in her state.