Koodankulam protesters assaulted, talks cancelled

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A civil group spearheading the protest against Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) called off talks with the central government-appointed experts panel after the former's members were assaulted in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu on Tuesday, an activist said.

"We have no faith in the talks. None of the questions we had asked were answered and the documents we had asked were not presented to us. Meanwhile, our members have been assaulted when they had gone to participate in the talks. We are calling off our talks," S.P. Udayakumar, coordinator of the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), told IANS.

The fourth round of talks at Tirunelveli between the central government's experts panel on KNPP and the Tamil Nadu government's panel was all set to take place at the district collector's office on Tuesday morning.

However, members belonging to Hindu Munnani group started attacking the vehicles of two members of PMANE in the state panel, along with other activists, when they were entering the collector's office.

"One of our members Raj Lingam was pulled out of the car and was assaulted. Similarly there were some women in a van who were assaulted. We have lodged a police complaint and are going back to Koodankulam," M. Pushparayan, convener of the Coastal People's Federation and a member of the state panel, told IANS over phone.

A senior police officer told IANS that 10 people have been taken into custody.

India's nuclear power plant operator Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) is building two 1,000 MW atomic power reactors at Koodankulam in Tirunelveli district, around 650 km from here.

The project, originally budgeted to cost Rs.13,171 crore, was initially delayed due to non-sequential deliveries of equipments from Russia. The revised project cost is estimated to be around Rs.15,824 crore.

Villagers of Koodankulam, Idinthakarai and others fear for their lives and safety in case of any nuclear accident.

Their agitation, led by PMANE, has put a stop to the project work, delaying the commissioning of the first unit slated last month.

To resolve the issue, the central and state governments have formed two panels to allay the fears of the people.