Anti-Koodankulam activists seek Jaya's intervention

Hardening their stand on the controversial Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project, anti-nuclear activists on Sunday appealed to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to take a stand and adopt a cabinet resolution on scrapping it.

"We want the Chief Minister to intervene and take a stand. We want her to do something to scrap this project from Koodankulam," M Pushparayan, one of the leaders spearheading the stir told PTI.

"We will wait for a week for the Chief Minister to take a stand and will continue with the fourth phase of agitation from December 4," he said even as the protest against the Indo-Russian joint venture in Tirunelveli district entered the 103rd day on Sunday.

Another leader Udayakumar in an email claimed work on the KNPP had never been halted as demanded by a state cabinet resolution.

An open letter to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa signed by five leaders of the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy including Udayakumar said Centre's expert panel has come up with an "ill-baked and incomplete eyewash report" .

The central expert panel members had not talked to any section of the Tamil public nor has it tried to allay the fears and concerns of the people, they alleged. The letter also alleged that "instead of giving all the detailed and truthful information to our queries, the Central government belittles our request by saying that some foreign forces are behind all our efforts."

The 38-page report of the Expert Group has "ignored our question on liability, and has given no specific or scientific information on nuclear waste, and vague information on the fresh water needs of the KKNPP," it said.

Minister of State in the PMO, V Narayanasamy, had yesterday questioned the motives of the anti-KNPP agitators, asserting that the documents they had demanded were not on safety aspects of the Plant.

He had also said top nuclear scientists will talk to the Tamil Nadu government officials next week to decide on the next course of action to end the stalemate on the KNPP issue.