CHENNAI: Preparing for a showdown with the anti-Kudankulam agitators, the state government on Monday gave its nod to commission the plant.
A decision to this effect was taken in the state Cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister J Jayalalithaa. The Cabinet accepted the report submitted by the state-appointed experts' committee headed by former chairman of Atomic Energy Commission, MR Srinivasan, which said the plant is safe.
With a view to placating the fishermen community and the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), the forum that is spearheading the agitation, the government also decided to allocate Rs 500 crore for carrying out various welfare schemes for the betterment of the people in Kudankulam and nearby fishermen villages.
Meanwhile, heavy police force with a battery of senior officials has been deployed in Kudankulam region since Sunday night. Tamil Nadu south zone IG Rajesh Das, Tirunelveli range DIG V Varadaraju and 12 superintendents of police, drawn from all over southern districts are camping at Kudankulam. Twelve police check posts have been set up in the southern coastal belt and the level of preparedness for the show down with the agitating fishermen can be gauged from the fact that each of these check posts is headed by an SP level official.
While the Cabinet meeting was progressing in Chennai, police arrested nine persons from Kudankulam including S Sivasubramanian, one of the PMANE activists who met Jayalalithaa for talks in Chennai earlier this month.
Following the arrests, the fishermen community gathered in large numbers at Idinthakarai village, where a relay fast has been going on for more than six months. SP Udayakumar, convenor of PMANE, has started a fast unto death demanding the release of the nine activists.
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