Angry Jaitapur locals greet Prithiviraj Chavan with slogans

Project-affected people from five villages surrounding the proposed Jaitapur nuclear plant opposed the project tooth and nail on Saturday during the public meeting organised by chief minister Prithiviraj Chavan at Niveli village, two kilometres away from the proposed site of the project.

The people who had gathered not only hooted and shouted slogans against the project and the government, but also demanded it be scrapped with immediate effect.

Of the nearly two thousand people who had come for the meeting, most opposed the project by shouting slogans and wearing badges to express their opposition to the 9,000 megawatt power project. With women dominating the gathering, the speakers opposing the project received rounds of applause, while the speakers in favour were disrupted on a number of occasions. When the police tried to escort the women leaders of the protesters away from the dias, the protestors threatened to boycott the meeting.

Local leaders were given an opportunity to speak at the meeting. Shiv Sena MLA Rajan Salvi and Dr Milind Desai refused to complete their speeches when industries minister Narayan Rane, who was also on the dias, raised objections to their comments. Rane, in his speech, had to remind angry villagers the Indian culture of respecting guests. However, even he was not spared by the villagers.

The organisers had to seek the help of local influentials to calm the gathering. Pravin Gavankar, a local leader, revealed on the dais that he was threatened by the police with externment if the people gathered did not keep quiet.

The fisherfolk, who fear loss of business due to the project, attended the meeting in large numbers. Their leader Amjad Borkar said, “We have a narrow channel through which the fishing trawlers pass. It will be shut for security reasons after the project kicks off. This will affect our business in a big way.”