Fishermen call off anti-nuclear fast in Tamil Nadu India

(September 22, 2011) More than 120 Catholic fishermen in Tamil Nadu, South India, on Wednesday called off a hunger strike in protest against the construction of a nuclear plant in Koodankulam following the intervention of the chief minister, Jayaram Jayalalitha. Ms Jayalalitha on Wednesday promised a team of Church leaders and fishermen’s representatives she would have a resolution passed in the state cabinet urging the federal government to halt further work on the plant “till the fears of the public are allayed.” The Tamil Nadu government later issued a statement saying a delegation from the southern Indian state, headed by Finance Minister O. Pannerselvam, would submit a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after his return from the UN General Assembly in New York on September 27. “We hope the government agrees to our demands and make a favourable decision,” said Bishop Peter Remigius of Kottar, who was at the meeting with the chief minister Wednesday. The Catholic fishermen, who had been on an indefinite hunger strike for the past 12 days, say the Koodankulam plant would “endanger” their lives and livelihoods. Several thousand people have expressed their support. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd is building two 1,000 MW capacity nuclear reactors using Russian technology in Koodankulam in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelvelli district, about 650 km from the state capital Chennai. The first unit is expected to go on stream in December.