Kudankulam protests gain steam; police to remove protestors

Chennai, Mar 21: With the Kudankulam nuclear plant row escalating from bad to worse, the anti-nuclear protestors stepped up their fight as Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa took a u-turn to give her nod to the controversial nuclear plant. In spite of the heavy police deployment, protestors and anti-nuclear activists are streaming into the area.

After seven months of stalling the work at the plant, the work resumed on Tuesday with renewed force. Sources have claimed that the police are gearing up to remove the protestors from the site by force. The media has also been barred from entering Idinthakarai village, where the plant is located. The police have meanwhile given the ultimatum to leader of the protests, SP Udayakumar.

With both Jayalalithaa and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh batting for the 930 MW plant, the protestors see this as a betrayal and lack of concern for the people in the area. The Central government also sent an expert of senior scientists to look into the safety concerns of the area. As part of the crackdown into the suspected foreign funding of the protests, the government froze bank accounts and deported a German national.

As many as 4,000 police personnel and four companies of Central Reserve Police Force's rapid action force have been deployed in the area. With the anti-KKNPP protests gathering strength with the support of locals and others in the area, a contingent of CRPF's Rapid Action Force from Thiruvananthapuram, is in front of the main entrance of KKNPP. V Varadharaju, Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Tirunelveli Range has been quoted as saying, "Our operation will never violate any provisions of law as we are keen on arresting the persons against whom cases have been filed."

OneIndia News