Chennai:
At least 24 activists of the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) launched an indefinite fast on Tuesday at four villages in Tirunelveli district, around 650 km from Chennai, in protest against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP).
While 14 indefinite fasters are in Idinthakarai village, eight are in Kuthenkazi village and one each in Kudankulam and Kuduthazhai villages.
According to M Pushparayan, a PMANE leader, more women have proposed to join the indefinite fast protest based on the outcome of a scheduled meeting with the Tamil Nadu government on May 3.
India's nuclear power plant operator Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIl) is building the KNPP at Kudankulam in Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu.
Work at the project had come to a standstill last year after villagers in the area, fearing for lives in case of a nuclear accident, mounted an intensive protest.
The Tamil Nadu government had earlier passed a resolution asking the central government to halt work at the plant and to allay the fears of the locals.
To resolve the issue, the central and state governments set up two panels.
The central panel submitted its final report on January 31. The Tamil Nadu government set up another expert committee which too favoured the project.
In March this year, the state government gave its green signal to the project and also announced Rs.500 crore for local area and infrastructural development.
Following that, work at KNPP was restarted with police protection.