PMANE thanks Jayalalithaa for her letter to PM on KNPP

CHENNAI: Anti Koodankulam protestors today thanked Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa for her letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on his statement over operationalisaton of the plant, asking him to allay fears of locals before taking any 'precipitate action'.

"We would like to thank you wholeheartedly for your very thoughtful statement...for standing up to defend the rights and interests of Tamil people and our progeny. You have proved once again..that you are truly a people's leader and not an externally imposed CEO," S P Udayakumar, coordinator of People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy ( PMANE), spearheading the protestors said in a letter to the Chief Minister.

He sought an appointment with Jayalalithaa in the next couple of weeks, during which PMANE's expert team's report would be submitted to her and she would be apprised of the ground situation in Koodankulam.

Jayalalithaa in a letter to Singh yesterday had expressed surprise over his statement that Koodankulam nuclear power plant would be operationalised in a couple of weeks and said that the satisfaction of locals, who have been continuing their protest against the Indo-Russian project raising safety concerns for over three months, is of 'paramount importance' to her government.

The project has run into rough weather with locals demanding its closure on safety grounds, following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in March this year.