Have full faith in Jaya: PMANE

CHENNAI: Reposing faith in Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa that she would make the right decision on the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) issue, People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) on Wednesday appealed to the Chief Minister to visit Koodankulam to know the pulse of the local people on the issue.Answering questions after a 15-minute meeting with the CM at the Secretariat here, SP Udayakumar, convenor of the PMANE, said, “The CM has listened to our views patiently and promised that she would carefully go through the books and reports on atomic energy and the KKNPP given by us. We are returning with overwhelming faith in the CM.”Asked whether the PMANE would give up its agitation against the KKNPP if Jayalalithaa decides in favour of commissioning the plant, Udayakumar said he would not answer speculative questions. However, he said, “When we met the CM last time, she said this government was for the common people and the CM is still firm on her stand. She had adopted a resolution urging the Centre to suspend further works at the plant until the fears of the local people are allayed. We expect a similar gesture from the CM this time also.”Udayakumar further said, “We have told the Chief Minister that the KKNPP is not 100 per cent safe as has been claimed by experts and suggested that it can be converted into a natural-gas based power project and cited some examples in this regard in America, Moscow and Mexico.” Questioned about the response of the CM to their request, he said, “She has given us a patient hearing. But she did not express any view or respond to our request to visit Koodankulam.”