Kudankulam nuclear plant protesters take a break for local elections

The fast and agitation against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tirunelveli by the local residents has been suspended in view of the local body elections.

“The local body elections in Tamil Nadu are being held on Monday and on October 19. We are suspending the agitation temporarily to facilitate peaceful polling,” SP Udaya Kumar, convenor of Peoples Movement Against Nuclear Energy told DNA following a day-long meeting with representatives of political parties.

The agitators will reassemble at the KNPP project site on Thursday, Pushparajan, the second-in-command to Udaya Kumar said. “We have asked the agitators to elect candidates who are opposed to the nuclear power plant as their representatives in the election. Our strategy is to intensify the agitation by including the panchayath, municipal and corporation councilors,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd’s dreams of an early commissioning of the unit 1 has gone awry because of the massive agitation. 

“I have not moved out of my house for the last three days as per the instruction of the district administration because of this agitation. We will have a meeting inside the plant either on Monday or Tuesday to take stock of the situation. Then only I’ll be able to tell when the plant will start supplying power to the grid,” NK Balaji, project director, KNPP said.