Rural India’s growing opposition to nuclear power

“We have not forgotten the criminal record of ‘Union Carbide’s now Dow Chemical’ in theBhopal gas tragedy and the shameless episode of Indian politicians letting the culprits goes Scott-free: both physically and in terms of adequate liability for the horrendous disaster,” the activists stated.

Communities near the existing nuclear facilities in Tarapur, Rawatbhata, Kalpakkam, Kaiga, Kakrapar and Hyderabad have also been raising voices against radiation leaks and their harmful effects. Existing and proposed new uranium mines in Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Meghalaya have also met with massive protests.

Mith Virdi Nuclear Power Project faces opposition from villagers http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/energy/power/mith-virdi-nuclear-power-project-faces-opposition-from-villagers/articleshow/22929250.cms By Mitul Thakkar, ET Bureau | 23 Sep, 2013 NEW DELHI: Activists against proposed nuclear power project at Mith Virdi in Bhavnagar district of Gujarat are planning a 40 km rally with participation from over 50 villages to mark their protest. Bhavnagar Jilla Gram Bachao Samiti, Gujarat Anu-urja Mukti Andolan and Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti are taking the lead in the protests against 6,000 mw nuclear fired power project. They decided to register their opposition through rally after they learnt that the government of India is moving to further dilute the Nuclear Liability Act to seal the nuclear deal with the US government during Prime Minister’s visit to Washington soon.

“The dilution of the Nuclear Liability Act is being touted as a “gift” to the US government and international nuclear corporations. We strongly condemn this brazen contempt for a adopted Act by the sovereign parliament of India. To assure the US Government and Nuclear Industries that the Government of India will make sure that the operator Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) does not use its ‘right of recourse’ against suppliers of defective equipments is a shameless sale out of Indian people’s lives,” read a joint media statement by activists on Saturday evening. Earlier, the government tried to placate the nuclear corporations by diluting the Act by framing rules that go against the spirit of the Constitution of India, it read.

They claiming that the Indian government risking its citizen’s lives even as the crisis in Fukushima has further deepened over last few weeks exemplifies its callousness and the narrow elite interests that it represents. They argued that it is unfortunate that Indian Government is choosing to miss the historic opportunity to go for sustainable, renewable, decentralised and equitable forms of energy and shun nuclear power which contributes less than 3% of its electricity production when Japan has been forced to switch off all its reactors and countries like Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy etc have decided to go nuclear free. Activists are against further dilution of the Nuclear Liability Act and endangering the lives of common people of India.

The Government of India is pursuing its nuclear programmes at Koodankulam ( Tamil Nadu), Jaitapur (Maharashtra), Mithi Virdi (Gujarat), Kovvada (Andhra Pradesh), Gorakhpur (Haryana), Chutka ( Madhya Pradesh) and Haripur ( West Bengal) where people are opposing the projects. Communities near the existing nuclear facilities in Tarapur, Rawatbhata, Kalpakkam, Kaiga, Kakrapar and Hyderabad have also been raising voices against radiation leaks and their harmful effects. Existing and proposed new uranium mines in Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Meghalaya have also met with massive protests.

September 24, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, opposition to nuclear

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