Jaitapur locals set to boycott Republic Day celebrations

In a mark of protest, grampanchayat members in villages in and around the proposed 9900 MW Jaitapur nuclear power plant are all set to boycott the official flag-hoisting ceremony this Republic Day. In fact, January 26 will see a peaking of the protest against the controversial plant.

The activists, as a mark of their protest against the state’s continual pushing of the nuclear power project down their throats, despite the numerous protests, have decided to ask parents of school-going children to not send the children to school between January 24-26.

Stating that the jail bharo andolan, which will start on January 24, will continue the next day, Pravin Gavankar of Janhit Sewa Samiti, a local body representing the villagers, said, “We have appealed the villagers to participate in our protest.”

In fact, a major stir is slated for the Republic Day, with the activists appealing to the grampanchayat members to boycott all government functions. “On the contrary, we will be hoisting flags at our villages in private functions,” said Satyajit Chavan of the Konkan Vinashkari Prakalp Virodhi Samiti.

The activists canvasssing in the nearly 22 villages around the proposed power plant said the their activity was aimed at showing the government that “we are united against any of the government atrocities”, added Gavankar.

On Sunday, villagers buried a symbolic dead body of the nuclear plant in Sakhri Natye village, vowing to not let it enter the region.