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Anti-Kudankulam nuclear plant protestors lay siege to Tuticorin port | | Stepping up their protest against loading of fuel at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, anti-nuclear activists and fishermen on Saturday tried to lay siege to the port
in Tuticorin. About 3,000 fishermen and anti-nuclear activists in 500 mechanised and country boats tried to block the approach channel where ships enter the port,
but were prevented by Coast Guard and CISF personnel. The protesters remained in the sea and raised slogans against the Central and state governments, asking them to stop the loading of fuel at the plant. A group of anti-nuclear activists also formed a human chain in Tuticorin town.
The heightened protests come against the backdrop of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board giving its final clearance
for loading of fuel in the first unit of the Indo-Russian joint venture on Tuesday. Peoples Movement Against Nuclear Energy, spearheading the over year-long stir,
had given the call on Thursday to fishermen to stall port activities at Tuticorin, Kanyakumari, Rameswaram and Chennai on Saturday. PMANE, whose leader S.P. Udayakumar
is evading arrest with a non-bailable warrant against him in a case relating to the anti-nuclear stir, has also given a call to picket Central government offices
in the state on September 25. The first unit of the plant was earlier scheduled
to be commissioned in December last year, but was delayed by continuous protests.
The Kudankulam power plant is the first nuclear project to near completion after the Fukushima disaster. Some countries like Germany have decided to turn away from nuclear energy and the international community is keenly watching how India
handles the rising opposition to the project.
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