CHENNAI: While the State and Centre are planning awareness workshops and meetings across the State to end the stalemate over Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP), activists against the plant launched a signature campaign at the Besant Nagar beach here on Sunday evening.Speaking to Express Nityanand Jayaraman of Campaign for Justice and Peace-Tamil Nadu (CJP-TN) said that they stood by AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa as she had expressed concern over the safety of the people living in and around KKNPP and had passed a resolution to this effect.“We want her to take one more step and declare the State a nuclear- free one just as the West Bengal Chief Minister did,” he added.“In the coming week, we are organising photo exhibitions pertaining to nuclear hazards and screening of films in this context in the city colleges,” Jayaraman said, and added, “A rally had been planned from Madurai to Koodankulam by activists and it will be a padayatra, which will begin on November 10 and conclude on November 14 expressing solidarity with Idinthakarai people”.The money collected during the beach campaign and other events in this regard will go straight to the core committee in Idinthakarai to meet their miscellaneous expenses.Prior to the signature campaign, a team of like-minded activists from ‘CJP-TN’ and ‘Reclaim our Beaches’ gathered a group of youngsters from a city college, who were sensitised on the nuclear hazards.Laying focus on nuclear hazards, the youths present aired their opinions, which were put to debate among them.“If your child was born with a deformity as reported in the previous nuclear disasters, will you be able to accept it? Accidents are bound to happen, but was it worth risking? Is the risk manageable? Do we really need nuclear power? Should we not look into electricity generation as a wholesome issue?” were some of the questions raised by the youth during the debate.Deriving answers from themselves, the students carried the movement forward with an appeal to the people explaining the nuclear hazards and collected their signatures and monetary assistance depending upon the willingness.The volunteers also raised `1,350 from the beach goers that would go towards supporting the protest at Idinthakarai.Elsewhere in the city, the Tamizhaga Ilaignar Elichi Pasarai group too organised a protest against nuclear plants in the State outside the Panagal Building at Saidapet. They demanded that the KKNPP be scrapped immediately, said Satish, State coordinator of the movement.
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