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Growing global protest against Jaitapur nuclear power plant

As occurs so often in such situations, the Indian government has employed ruthless tactics, carrying out midnight arrests and forcing farmers off of their land. Yet, in the face an increasingly oppressive and brutal state, the people have stood their ground.

Protest mounts against earthquake prone nuke plant Greenpeace International by Karuna Raina – May 20, 2011  Since its earliest stages, the proposed Nuclear Power Plant at Jaitapur has faced concerned opposition from local people who clearly recognised the inherent risks that the Indian government appeared to be ignoring. With the proposed site sitting directly on top of one of India’s most seismically active zones, those with the most to lose saw clearly the danger they were being placed in and started the fight for their safety, their livelihoods and the future of their families.

Four years on and under the increasingly dark cloud of the Fukushima disaster opposition to the project has grown into an international campaign. Recognising the role of banks in financing such risky projects, last week more than sixty-two thousand people from all over the world joined the people of Jaitapur and wrote or called HSBC and BNP Paribas to demand a halt to the Jaitapur project.

Opposition to the project is based on a wide variety of issues – from mangoes and fish to the risk of a Fukushima-style disaster. But, all of these people are now united by a common goal: To stop the nuclear power plant being built and avoid the inevitable damage to a fragile ecosystem and the livelihoods that depend on it.

It hasn’t been easy and our opponents are powerful and well-organised. As occurs so often in such situations, the Indian government has employed ruthless tactics, carrying out midnight arrests and forcing farmers off of their land. Yet, in the face an increasingly oppressive and brutal state, the people have stood their ground.

Greenpeace has supported the people of Jaitapur in their opposition to this project since the beginning. Recently, we have written to and met with some of the banks invited to finance the project, including BNP Paribas and HSBC. Throughout our discussions we informed them of the many problems associated with the project and urged them to withdraw their interests in it. So far, the two largest banks in Germany –  Commerzbank and Deutschebank – have reached the same conclusions as us and steered away from Jaitapur……

From grassroots opposition to a well supported and publicised international campaign, Jaitapur is quickly becoming an issue  that the banks and the Indian government can no longer ignore. With your support we will keep up with this fight till the end and help India move away from inherently dangerous nuclear energy and to achieve its energy ambition through clean power.

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Protest mounts against earthquake prone nuke plant | Greenpeace International

May 21, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, opposition to nuclear