CHENNAI:The dragging protest against the Kundankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) in Tamil Nadu was temporarily called off Sunday evening, and officials made hurried preparations to relieve employees and their families confined in the plant due to blockades.
The dramatic and sudden halt to the campaign, which had drawn global attention, was linked to Monday’s local body elections, People’s Rights Movement coordinator S. Sivasubramanian told IANS.”We have decided to call off the agitation temporarily so that people can take part in the elections. The work at the nuclear plant has come to a stop after our agitation,” Sivasubramanian told IANS.
The decision comes as a huge relief to the hundreds of families inside the KNPP complex as they had been virtually cut off from the outside world since Thursday.”We are under house arrest, without drinking water and even milk for our children,” a housewife inside the KNPP site had earlier told IANS, adding: “Our stock of provisions is running out and we do not have vegetables.”
Just after the People’s Rights Movement announced its decision, the Nuclear Power Corp of India Ltd (NPCIL) took immediate steps to relieve its employees confined in the plant premises because of the protest.
“We are making arrangements to relieve around 50 employees in the plant trapped since Oct 13,” a NPCIL official told IANS from Kudankulam. (IANS)
