Kudankulam:
The protests at the Kudankulam nuclear plant show no signs of subsiding. Thousands of villagers, mostly women, continue with their indefinite fast, which entered its sixth day today, at Idinthakarai demanding the scrapping of the nuclear plant project.
The agitation is being led by People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) coordinator S P Udayakumar.
The protesting women say they fear for the lives of their children and will not allow any work at the nuclear plant. They say that the project poses a huge risk, especially in light of Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant experience after the tsunami last year.
Fearing that the situation might turn violent, the police are cautious though the number of personnel deployed has been trimmed down. The Madras High Court is expected to pass orders on Monday on a plea to lift Section 144, which stands imposed in the area.
A team of government doctors examined the fasting protesters on Friday and said that they may have to be shifted to a hospital if their conditioned worsened, police said.
The women are arriving by the dozens at the protest site, taking the sea route on fishing boats that only their men folk normally use.
Muthammaal, a protestor at the site, feels that nuclear power is not the only option. "Is going nuclear the only way? We can produce power from wind and even ocean waves," she says.
Jayanthi, who earns a living from rolling beedis, now works out of the protest venue and contributes a tenth of her wages to the movement. "We have reached this stage. Women will definitely win. No matter how many years it takes, we would ultimately win," she says.
She and many women like her haven't lost hope, even though Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has done a U-turn after initially supporting their cause.
Experts say the Kudankulam plant is safe. The government says it could solve Tamil Nadu's power crisis. But these ordinary women are determined to fight it out.