Tamil Nadu's anti-nuclear stir all set to spread to Andhra Pradesh, civil society plans agitations in February-March

By Our Representative
Anti-nuclear protests against the proposed Kovvada nuclear plant in Andhra Pradesh are all set to acquire a new momentum in South India following the decision of the local people to join hand with national-level activists of People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), National Alliance of Anti-Nuclear Movement (NAAM), Human Rights Forum and Sanjeevini Paryavarana Seva Sangham.
Indications emerged following a meeting with local people that agitations would engulf Srikakulam district, where the project is proposed, on the lines of the one organized against the the Kudankulam project in Tamil Nadu. The word has gone around that in case of an accident it is not just the Kovvada village would be affected, but also other neighbouring areas.
An action plan, in coordination with civil society organizations and trade unions, was worked out, with plans for a series of protests in February and March. Kumar Sundaram of NMANE said following the civil society meeting that the “unsafe, uneconomic, eco-destructive” project was being set up set in “brazen contempt for the democratic rights and livelihoods of the local communities.”
The Andhra Pradesh government wants to turn Nellore and Srikakulam districts in the state into a nuclear hub as part of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) plan to generate over 60,000 MW of nuclear power across the country.
In Kovvada alone, around 2,400 acres of land is slated to be acquired for the proposed 6000 MW nuclear power plant. Tipped to be India’s biggest, the atomic power plant will have six reactors each with a capacity of 1000 MW each. The construction work for the project would start in 2018 and production would begin by 2024.
As of today, the total installed capacity of atomic power in India has not crossed 5,000 MW in the last 50 years.
Sundaram said, “The US and other western countries are waiting to dump their technology in the country. People should fight against tapping atomic power as many countries, including Sweden and Vietnam, have decided not to depend on atomic power.”
He added, “Shockingly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting with US president Barrack Obama in January 2015, effectively gave away Indian people’s right to sue the nuclear suppliers in case of accident, which will be much more devastating than Fukushima. And still the BJP and its government talks of being nationalists, brandinganti-nuclear and environmental activists anti-national.”
He was referring to as many as 2,500 fisherfolk of Idinthakarai village, including women, elderly and adolescent, facing sedition charges since 2012 for peacefully opposing the Koodankulam nuclear plant in their vicinity.
Centre for Indian Trade Unions' Andhra Pradesh president Ch Narasinga Rao said, NPCIL is yet to obtain site clearance from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board for the Kovvada project, while senior CPM leader B Krishna Murthy added, the nuclear power plant poses a threat to the entire North Andhra region, as it will be established in an earthquake-prone zone.
Sanjeevini Paryavarana Seva Sangham convener K Ramam said that the project would lead to heavy financial burden as the State government would be forced to buy atomic power at Rs 10 per unit when solar power was available at Rs 3 per unit in the country.
With plans to acquire around 2,400 acres of land for the construction of the project, about 1,500 families of various villages such as China Kovvada, Peda Kovvada, Tekkali and Ramachandrapuram face displacement.

Comments

'Enough evidence' in Indian tradition to support legal basis for same-sex marriage

By Iyce Malhotra, Joseph Mathai, Sandeep Chachra* The ongoing hearing in the Supreme Court on same-sex marriage provides space for much-needed conversations on issues that have hitherto remained “invisible” or engaged with patriarchal locker room humour. We must recognize that people with diverse sexualities and complex gender identities have faced discrimination, stigma and decades of oppression. Their issues have mainly remained buried in dominant social discourse, and many view them with deep insecurities.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Victim of communal violence, Christians in Manipur want Church leadership to speak up

By Fr Cedric Prakash SJ* The first eleven days of May 2023 have, in many ways, been a defining period of Indian history! Plenty has happened in a rapid-fire stream of events. Ironically, each one of them are indicators of how crimes and the criminalisation of society has become the ‘new norm’; these include, the May Day rallies with a focus on the four labour codes which are patently against the rights of workers; the U S Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its Annual Report on 1 May stating that conditions for religious freedom in India “continued to worsen in 2022”; the continued protest by the Indian women wrestlers at Jantar Mantar for the expulsion of the chief of the Indian Wrestlers Federation on very serious allegations; the Elections in Karnataka on 10 May (with communalism and corruption as the mainstay); the release of the fake, derogative and insensitive film ‘The Kerala Story’; the release of World Free Press Index on 3 May which places India

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Unlike other revolutionaries, Hindutva icon wrote 5 mercy petitions to British masters

By Shamsul Islam* The Hindutva icon VD Savarkar of the RSS-BJP rulers of India submitted not one, two,or three but five mercy petitions to the British masters! Savarkarites argue: “There are no evidences to prove that Savarkar collaborated with the British for his release from jail. In fact, his appeal for release was a ruse. He was well aware of the political developments outside and wanted to be part of it. So he kept requesting for his release. But the British authorities did not trust him a bit” (YD Phadke, ‘A complex Hero’, "The Indian Expres"s, August 31, 2004)

Polygamy in India "down" in 45 yrs: Muslims' from 5.7 to 2.55%, Hindus' 5.8 to 1.77%, "common" in SCs, STs

By Rajiv Shah Amidst All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) justifying polygamy, saying it “meets social and moral needs and the provision for it stems from concern and sympathy for women”, facts suggest the the practice is down from 5.7 per cent of Muslim families in 1961 to 2.55 per cent in 2006.

India joining US sponsored trade pillar to hurt Indian farmers, 'promote' GM seeds, food

Counterview Desk As many as 32 civil society organisations (CSOs), in a letter to Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) and India joining the trade pillar, have said that its provisions will allow the US to ensure a more favourable regulatory regime “for enhancing its exports of genetically modified (GM) seeds and GM food”, underlining, it will “significantly hurt the livelihoods of Indian farmers.”

Savarkar 'criminally betrayed' Netaji and his INA by siding with the British rulers

By Shamsul Islam* RSS-BJP rulers of India have been trying to show off as great fans of Netaji. But Indians must know what role ideological parents of today's RSS/BJP played against Netaji and Indian National Army (INA). The Hindu Mahasabha and RSS which always had prominent lawyers on their rolls made no attempt to defend the INA accused at Red Fort trials.

Modi govt 'wholly untrustworthy' on Covid data, censored criticism on pandemic: Lancet

By Rajiv Shah* One of the world’s most prestigious health journals, brought out from England, has sharply criticised the Narendra Modi government for being “wholly untrustworthy on Covid-19 health data”, stating, the “official government figures place deaths at more than 530 000, while WHO excess death estimates for 2020 and 2021 are near 4·7 million.”

Savarkar 'opposed' Bhagat Singh's, Netaji's dream of India, supported British war efforts

By Shamsul Islam* In a shocking development, the student wing of the RSS put the busts of martyrs Bhagat Singh and Subhash Chandra Bose with Savarkar's on one pedestal at the University of Delhi late in the night on August 20, 2019. Bhagat Singh sacrificed his life for a socialist-democratic-secular republic and Netaji raised Azad Hind Fauj (INA) consisting of people of all religions and regions for armed liberation of India.

Search This Blog