Kudankulam: Around 250 people were arrested in Tuticorin when they attempted to set out on a march to express solidarity with anti-nuclear agitators here who on Sunday buried themselves upto waist in beach sand, in a new form of protest against loading of fuel in Kudankuklam plant.
A ‘solidarity march’ by cultural leaders from Kerala to Kudankulam to express support with the anti-nuclear activists here was also stopped on the state’s border with Tamil Nadu. Leader of Peoples Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), which is spearheading the protest here, meanwhile, offered unconditional talks with the central and state governments and said they were ready to give up the agitation if the government assured that fuel would not be loaded for now.
After jal satyagraha, the protesters, including women, shifted their stir from sea to beach and buried themselves upto waist at nearby Kootapuli, holding placards against the Centre and state governments.
Earlier, taking a cue from a similar protest demanding land as compensation and reduction in water level of Omkareshwar Dam recently by villagers of Khandwa district in Madhya Pradesh, the protesters under PMANE too had launched the ‘jal satyagraha’, forming human chain in sea waters from September 13.
However, the jal satyagraha was suspended for two days on Saturday. The latest bout of intensified protests have been launched after authorities gave the go ahead for loading fuel in the plant. Around 250 members of smaller parties were arrested in Tuticorin, about 50 km from here, when they attempted to set out on a march to Idinthakarai to express solidarity with the anti-KNPP protesters. Actor-Director Seeman, heading the Naam Tamizhar Iyakkam, and workers of Tamilnadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam were among those arrested, police said. (PTI)