Ram Setu destruction will undermine India's nuke capability: Togadia

Varanasi, Sep 29 (UNI) Linking the Indo-US 123 nuke pact with the Ram Sethu issue, the VHP today alleged destruction of the under-sea bridge under the Sethusamudram Project will make the country subservient to western powers for fuel to produce nuclear power.

''The destruction of Ram Sethu will not only be an attack on Hindus across the world, but will also result in the washing away of large deposits of Thorium from which four lakh mega watt of electricty can be produced in the electricty starved India annually,'' VHP general secretary Pravin Togadia told newspersons here.

''Our country needs at least one lakh mega watt electricity to serve the growing needs of the economy. But, the two conventional sources of electricity, water and coal, are not sufficient to meet the requirement. Only nuclear power can fulfill the target and the huge Thorium deposits on both sides of the Ram Sethu could be a major source for producing at least 4 lakh mega watt electricity every year,'' Dr Togadia claimed.

''China is successfully producing Thorium based electricity and even the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in India is ready to go ahead with plans of producting electricity through Thorium based nuke reactor.'' Dr Togadia said ''production of Thorium based electricity will not only fulfill requirements of Indian economy, but surplus nuke power can also be exported to other countries.'' ''The western powers, including the US, do not want our country to be self-dependent in terms of nuclear electricity and that is why they are influencing the UPA government to destroy the Ram Sethu in the name of Sethusamudram Project, only to wash away the valuable Thorium deposits,'' he alleged.

Further linking the Indo-US nuke deal with the probable destruction of Ram Sethu, Dr Togadia said ''the nuke deal will ensure that India produces 20,000 MW nuclear electricity out of uranium sourced from western powers. By destroying the Ram Sethu, the western powers want to ensure that no uranium can be generated through the Thorium reserves edging the under-sea bridge.'' ''It is well known that all natural Thorium can be bred into Uranium and that is why the west through the UPA government wants to ensure that with the destruction of Ram Sethu and the subsequent washing away of Thorium reserves, India's capability produce nuclear power on its own is eroded forever.'' UNI ARS ATI SB HT2157