Times of India: Madurai: Sunday, 27 July 2014.
In a bid to
seek support to prevent the proposed operation of units three and four of the
Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP), the People' Movement Against Nuclear
Energy (PMANE) is calling on leaders of all parties across the country. In this
regard, it has already met leaders of the RSS and BJP and is soon to meet Shiv
Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray.
Further,
PMANE's convener S P Udayakumar alleged that KKNPP purchased six lakh litres of
diesel worth of Rs 3.25 crore from the Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan
Petroleum on seven occasions in just one month between May 26 2014 and June 27.
"At the same time, it should be noted that the Madras Atomic Power Station
at Kalpakkam purchased just 15 lakh litres of diesel, which was worth Rs 15.46
lakh, in 18 months. The KKNPP is yet to disclose the reason behind using such a
huge quantity of fuel, even though the information sought under the RTI,"
he said.
Udayakumar
stated this while attending the state-level get together, which PMANE and
Poovulagin Nanbargal jointly organized in Madurai for social activists across
the state on Saturday. Hundreds of social activists who took part spoke on
various issues like Kudankulam, Kalpakkam, methane project, Mullaperiyar,
Cauvery etc. At the end of the meeting, they proposed to form a federation to
take up social issues. Criticizing the central government, Udayakumar said the
present BJP government is also functioning like the past Congress government
with an anti-people approach.
"The
KKNPP is violating many conditions laid down by the Supreme Court. According to
the conditions, the hot water being released from the plant should be taken
outside through special pipes, but, it is not done so. Besides, it is yet to
identify the place to accumulate the nuclear waste. Meantime, it plans to
operate its units 3 and 4," he said.
Units 3 and 4
of the KKNPP should not be allowed to be operated, he urged. "Regarding
this, we met Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar recently. Besides, we
are also holding talks with ministers of states Pon Radhakrishanan, V K Singh
and Jitendra Singh," he said. "We will soon meet the Shiv Sena
president Uddhav Thackeray seeking his support in this issue since it is
fighting against the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project which is built by the
French government in coastal Maharashtra," Udayakumar said.
Besides, the
movement members will also camp in Chennai next week and will meet the leaders
of all political parties, according to him.