TIRUNELVELI: Activists of the People Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) are going on a 72-hour fast from midnight on Monday to express their displeasure over the manner in which the panel, appointed by the state government, has given a clean chit to the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) without meeting the locals, who have been protesting against the plant since August, 2010.PMANE functionary, Pushparayan, told Express over phone that there was a suspicion that work had been going on at the KKNPP during the last six months in violation of the Tamil Nadu Assembly’s resolution, even when protests were going on at Idinthakarai. The suspicion was based on two inspections – one by the Atomic Energy Regulation Board last week and the other by International Atomic Energy Regulatory Agency on Monday – that were normally conducted only after completion of work, for certification, he said. Pushparayan said 120 workers were entering the plant daily for emergency work, but only 40 of them had come out. The rest had stayed back and completed the work, he said. He said the state government-appointed panel appeared to be biased as it had said that the safety features in the plant were good by just visiting the plant for two hours and hearing the KKNPP engineers.Also, the State Panel members M R Srinivasan, a former Atomic Energy Commission Chief and former IAS officer L N Vijayaragavan had been had been hostile towards PMANE activists during the meeting they had with them on Sunday.“During the meeting we wanted the panel members to meet the locals and find out their concerns. However. during the meeting itself Vijayraragavan questioned how they could meet the people and explain to them,’ Pushparayan said.Meanwhile, security was increased in and around the KKNPP site with the deployment of a heavy police force, led by South Zone Inspector General of Police Rajesh Das, Tirunelveli range Deputy Inspector General of Police V Varadharaju, Tirunelveli district superintendent Vijeyandra Bidari.
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