Koondankulam nuclear plant: PM puts power spin

CHENNAI: Making full use of the latest trend of political communication, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sent off a letter to Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa highlighting the importance of nuclear power for the State’s development even as he gave a four-point assurance that all safety measures would be put in place in the Koondankulam nuclear plant.Apprising the CM of his meeting with the delegation led by State Finance Minister O Pannerselvam, the PM said that he looked forward to Jayalalithaa’s continuing support for the project.He also promised to set up a small group of experts to interact with the representatives of the people of the region “to satisfy all their legitimate concerns”. He took care to add that “the exercise would suitably involve the Government of Tamil Nadu.’’ In other words, he assured the CM that the State government would not be bypassed in any manner, thereby, subtly putting pressure on Jayalalithaa to see the project through. Also justifying the need for an expert body to interact with the local people, he saidsome of the concerns raised by the TN delegation could not be settled by him as they were too “technical in nature’’.The PM noted that in the pursuit of nuclear power, “nothing will be done that would threaten the safety or livelihood of any section of society, particularly those living in the vicinity of a project.’’ However, the moot point was that the State would be the greatest loser in case the n-project came to a halt. Re-running a point that he had made during his recent trip to New York, the PM said: “Tamil Nadu was one of the most industrialized states of India whose power requirements are growing constantly.’’Of the 2000 MWe power to be generated by Koondankulam Nuclear Power project Unit 1 and 2, the allocation of power to Tamil Nadu is 925 MWe. “In case the prospects of availability of this power are suddenly withdrawn this would impact on the state’s development and industrialization plans.’’ Almost, making it out as a choice between unbridled the people’s power and nuclear power.