Anti-nuke Activists slam NPCIL official's charge of foreign forces' comment in Kudankulam protests

TNN | Oct 30, 2011, 02.25PM IST

TIRUNELVELI: The anti-nuclear activists have slammed as "irresponsible" the allegation byNuclear Power Corporation of India Limited(NPCIL) chairman and managing director S K Jain, who had said 's allegation that foreign forces were behind the protests against the construction of the Kudankulam nuclear plant.

"The statement by NPCIL official that foreigners were behind our protests is cheap propaganda to discredit the agitating villagers. There is not even a bit of truth in it. The protests ever since it started, has been entirely by the common public residing in and around Kudankulam," said M Pushparayan, convener of Coastal People's Federation. The fuming activists demanded the NPCIL official to come out with concrete evidence to support their allegation that foreigners were behind the ongoing protest. in the coastal villages in southern Tamil Nadu.

On Friday, Jain said that "Foreign nationals who are from the Greens movement from the

US, Finland, France, Australia and Germany are now at Kudankulam, opposing the project. They are backing the local population in their agitation which began towards end of August."

Pushparayan said that Jain's charge was a desperate attempt by NPCIL officials to scuttle the people's protest. "The protests are apolitical, non-religious and independent. It is the people who are funding for

the expenditure incurred for each and

every day. of the protest.

In fact, multi-national companies are funding the nuclear projects only," he charged.

On Jain's statement that the "the plant can't go from hot run to freeze condition," and insisting that they should proceed with operationalising of the plant, the activists said that the NPCIL officials were inconsistent in their views. "Now, they are attempting to create scare among the public by implying that there would be damage if the operations were stopped at this point. Our protests would continue irrespective of the official's statement," he said.

The activists are also awaiting the state government's nod to constitute a panel of experts to counter the expert panel formed by the Centre.

Meanwhile, the protest at Idinthakarai has entered its 12th day on Saturday. Villagers at Alandilai and Amali Nagar in Tuticorin district also observed a day's fast as part of the protest demanding shutting up of the multi-crore nuclear plant.