Tirunelveli: Tamil Nadu Congress on Saturday
appealed to Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to help the Centre
operationalise the Koodankulam nuclear power plant, which is
facing stiff opposition from the local people citing safety
concerns.
"I appeal to the Chief Minister and Tamil Nadu government
to work in tandem with Centre to operationalise the plant at
the earliest as it would help towards the development of Tamil
Nadu," state Congress president B S Gnanadesikan told
reporters here.
Asked if the state government was not cooperating with
the Centre, in the wake of continued protests against the
Indo-Russian joint venture, he said the Tamil Nadu government
was not against the plant, but called for more "proactive
steps" from it.
Describing KNPP as an important national project, he said
it would cater to the needs of an energy-starved India.
Moreover, 50 per cent (about 925 mw) of the nuclear energy
produced from the two reactors at KNPP will be given to Tamil
Nadu, Gnanadesikan claimed.
Congress will hold a public meeting here on February 4
urging the commissioning of the KNPP. Gnanadesikan said Union
Home Minister P Chidambaram, Union Shipping Minister G K Vasan
and Union Minister of State in the PMO, V Narayanaswamy will
be among those participating in the meeting.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, January 28, 2012, 18:40