Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urging him to put on hold the work at Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project till the concerns of the people in the area are addressed. With the fast by over 100 locals in the area against the project entering the ninth day today,Jaya put the ball in the Prime Ministers court,pointing out that atomic energy falls under his direct purview,and even charging the Centre of abdicating its responsibilities. In the letter,Jaya noted that the local people in Koodankulam were agonised,disturbed and gripped by fear psychosis due to the scope and magnitude of the issue in the wake of the Fukushima disaster and similar accidents at nuclear plants across the world. It is surprising to note that till date no responsible Minister or concerned higher authorities from the Government of India have visited the people or even attempted to assuage their misgivings. It is unfortunate to see that the Centre is abdicating its responsibilities. The Prime Minister should have sent a high-level team, she said in the letter. Jaya singled out the new Union Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan,who hails from Tamil Nadu,as having failed to make any attempts to visit the local people. Instead,she said,the minister told the media that the subject does not come under her ministry,thereby abdicating her duties as a minister and absolving herself of any responsibility. Her remark that the government officers would take care of the issue is callous in the extreme. She added that the Prime Minister,under whom the Atomic Energy Commission functions,should send competent authorities to hold discussions with the people of Koodankulam,address their fears and convince the people to their satisfaction. Jaya said she would send an all-party delegation headed by her deputy and State Finance Minister O Panneerselvam along with peoples representatives to hold discussions with the Prime Minister. The missive to the Centre marked a change in stance by the AIADMK leader,who had initially held that the nuclear power project was safe and urged the protesters to give up their fast. Manmohan to send minister Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke to Jayalalithaa over telephone and apprised her of the facts of the case. He has also asked MoS in the PMO V Narayanasamy to travel to Koodankulam and meet the protesters. I have been asked by the Prime Minister to go to Koodankulam on Tuesday. I will meet representatives of the protesters and inform them about the various safety measures that are being taken by the NPCIL in the plant, said Narayanasamy. He will also meet Jayalalithaa in Chennai on Wednesday.
