Duty bound to allay fears on Koodankulam

NEW DELHI: Faced with fresh protests at Koodankulam and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa doubting its intentions, the central government said it was duty bound to allay the fears of the people on the proposed nuclear power project.Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office V. Narayanasamy told reporters: "It is our duty to allay the fears in the minds of the people on the nuclear power project."He denied any differences between the centre and the state government on the issue and said: "We respect the views of the Tamil Nadu chief minister."In a statement released Tuesday, Jayalalithaa said the actions of the central government led to the suspicion that it wanted to blame the state government for the Koodankulam problem -- people are demanding that the Rs.13,000 crore Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) in Tirunelveli district, about 650 km from Chennai, be scrapped.Activists demanding the closure of the plant welcomed Jayalalithaa's statement.Narayanasamy said as announced earlier "the prime minister is considering setting up an expert panel to talk to the proptesters where the state government will also be represented"."The prime minister is considering scientists from various fields like environment, oceanography and nuclear science for the expert committee," said the junior minister adding that "the protesters can form their own panel".He said the government panel, which will be a neutral group, will talk to the committee formed by the protesters and will also rope in a representative of the state government.Stating no new work was being carried out at the plant following instructions from the centre, Narayanasamy said "the government scientists were doing maintenance work there".The minister said the Tamil Nadu government was yet to submit its list of names for the expert panel to be constituted by the central government.India's nuclear power plant operator NPCIL is building two 1,000 MW nuclear power reactors with Russian technology and equipment in Koodankulam. The first unit is expected to go on stream in December.