Kudankulam protests continue; leader slips away

Protests against the upcoming nuclear power plant at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu continued this morning, with protesters still sitting in and around Idinthakarai, the venue of protest, weeks before the plant is due to open.

Activist S P Udhayakumar, who is leading the current round of protests, had threatened on Tuesday to court arrest in the presence of a ''prominent national leader''. However he did not get arrested as protestors whisked him away last night in a boat. His current whereabouts are unknown.

Additional Director General of Police S George said, "There is no news about the leaders of PMANE (the organisation of protestors) surrendering. We are more concerned about maintaining law and order."

Authorities claim that the situation is now under control at the protest site. DGP George said, "Cases have been registered against protestors attacking the police and damaging property. Around 2,000 police personnel have been deployed in Kundankulam and surrounding areas." (See: Anti-KNPP protests turn violent, one dies in police firing).

India Against Corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal reached Kudankulam last night and reportedly suggested that Udhayakumar should not surrender to the police, as his arrest would adversely affect the movement.

The Kudankulam plant, being built with Russian technology, will provide 2 Gigawatts of electricity, enough to solve Tamil Nadu's perennial power shortage. However the project has been plagued with protests almost since inception, as the locals – mostly fishermen – fear the catches will dwindle if the plant goes through.

Environmentalists on the other hand point out that developed countries are moving away from nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan. Germany has set 2020 as timeline when all the country's nuclear power plants would be shut down, following the Fukushima disaster (See: Germany to phase out nuclear power by 2020).