People's Democracy

CPI(M) Condemns Jaitapur Firing,

Demands Halt to Project

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) issued the following statement on April 19, 2011.

THE Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) strongly condemns the police firing which has led to death of one person and injuries to several others who were protesting against the Jaitapur nuclear power project in Maharashtra. The local people have been voicing their opposition to the location of the plant in their area and have refused to accept the forcible acquisition of their lands. 

The Jaitapur power project, to be set up with imported nuclear plants from the French company, Areva, will have reactors based on the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) technology. Such reactors have not been commissioned for operation anywhere else in the world yet. There are questions about the reliability and safety of these new reactors. In the light of the crisis which has developed in some of the nuclear power reactors in Japan, the Polit Bureau calls for an immediate halt to the Jaitapur nuclear project.

The Polit Bureau demands that adequate compensation be given to the next of kin of the deceased and those injured in the police firing.