K'taka: Villagers planning to protest against Kaiga N-plant

Kaiga, Nov 9: Villagers around the Kaiga nuclear plant in Karnataka claimed that the nuclear power plant is a threat to their lives and are planning to conduct a protest against two new units on Nov 28.

With the committee appointed by the centre trying hard to convince the state panel on the safety of the Koodankulam nuclear plant in Tamil Nadu, the centre will now have to convince the anti-Kaiga nuclear plant protesters as well.

"We have all decided to oppose the plant. We will submit a memorandum to the DC and will also protest in the premises," said Babu Naik, gram panchayat member of Haroor village.

Inspired by the protests against the Koodankulam nuclear plant in Tamil Nadu, the protestors claimed that the plant is threatening their lives as well as livelihood.

The panchayat member was quoted as saying, "Nearby people are getting affected with cancer. Crops do not grow anymore. Gooseberries, mushrooms, paddy, coconut all yields have been affected. People are scared about their safety."

"Our station is a completely safe and it is operating at an international level. I have been working at this station since 1976. An employee should get more dose than what the public is getting. A survey conducted shows no changes in levels of employees also. If you want power you need plants," said JP Gupta, site director of Kaiga nuclear power plant.

"I have already shown that our plants are safe. Whatever comes in the future will incorporate what we have learnt, and the latest plant will be much more safer than the older one," he added.

"We have submitted pleas in the past to rehabilitate people living in a 5km radius of the plant, but we have been ignored by the plant officials and the state govt. We will staunchly oppose units 5 and 6. With units 1 and 4 we have faced many hardships. We are ready to die also," said Naik.

OneIndia News