A fact-finding team has slammed Indian administration in the state of Tamil Nadu for manhandling peaceful anti-nuclear protesters at Idinthakarai. The team points especially at the distress it has created in the minds of the locals, who it reports are fearful to leave the village to seek medical help for fear of getting arrested. Media reports indicate that the police have rejected these findings.
A protest against fuel loading in the Kudankulam nuclear power plant that had been going on for several days was broken up by police on Sept. 10 after the Madras High Court gave permission to the plant to operate.
Police who had cordoned off the area around the plant at Kudankulam were taken by surprise after the protesters approached the plant by walking along the beach, leading to a standoff.
These protests date back as far as 1988, when the Indian government made plans for an atomic power project. With the new nuclear power plant project, locals are concerned about their safety, health, and livelihood.
Back in August, the Madras High Court refused a petition to stop the project, and the government announced it would load uranium into the reactors in September.
