Chennai: Pledging her support to the ongoing
agitation against the Koodankulam nuclear project, social
activist Medha Patkar on Tuesday said the protesting villagers have
decided to continue their 10-day old fast till the state
cabinet passed a resolution for stopping work on the project.
"The villagers (living in and around the project site)
demand that the state cabinet pass a resolution for stopping
the ongoing work and ensure the safety of the people and the
natural resources. We completely support them," she told a
press conference here.
Patkar, speaking on her return from a visit to the protest
venue near Koodankulam in Tirunelveli District, said the
central government should show the same urgency on the
Koodankulam issue as it attached to the Jan Lokpal Bill.
"When West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee could
stop Haripur nuclear power plant, why not the Koodankulam
plant (be halted)? Tamil Nadu government should also follow a
similar approach", she said.
Hitting out at Jayalalithaa for sending two AIADMK leaders
to express solidarity with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra
Modi during his three-day fast, Patkar said she had not
bothered to depute even a single emissary to talk to the
protesters.
While the villagers thanked Jayalalithaa for her steps,
including writing a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,
she said they had decided to continue the fast until a
resolution was passed by the cabinet.
"It is not a battle between Jayalalithaa and (Union
Minister) Jayanti Natarajan but a battle between the people
and the state", she said referring to the chief minister`s
charge that Natarajan had washed off her hands over the
impasse.
Patkar, who is also the Convenor of National Alliance of
People`s Movement, said an Inquiry Commission would be formed
with eminent scientists to go into the impact of nuclear
policy and power plants vis-a-vis the rights of people to know
about the safety of such projects.
PTI
