Agitated over the State government's plan to allow sand quarrying again at the dry Nambiyar riverbed in the district, residents of various villages in Radhapuram taluk submitted a petition to Collector R. Selvaraj on Monday against the move.

Unlike the Tamirabarani, the Nambiar would very rarely experience flood even during active monsoon. Naturally, sand deposit on this riverbed is not so dense and deep.

State-owned Nuclear Power Corporation (NPCIL) expects the much-delayed Koodankulam nuclear project’s first unit to commence commercial operations by August 2012, and the second of the two 1,000 MWe (mega watt electrical) units by March 2013. This is as per the new official commissioning schedules announced for the project, which has suffered an over five-month delay due to protests.

Anti-nuclear demonstrators gathered on Sunday evening at Dadar’s Chaityabhoomi along with National Award-winning filmmaker Anand Patwardhan, activist Dr Binayak Sen and his wife Ilina, and members of the Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace, Konkan Vinashakari Prakalp Virodhi Samiti, and Konkan Bachao Andolan Priyar Dravidar Kazhagam. They were protesting against the controversial nuclear reactor project in Koodankulam, Tamil Nadu.

Fresh water for ensuring unhindered operation of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) will not be drawn from the Pechipaarai dam or the Tamirabharani, the outgoing Site Director, M. Kasinath Balaji, has said.

“Since we've installed two desalination plants to meet the drinking water requirements of Anu Vijay township (where KKNPP personnel reside) and also the KKNPP site, we will never draw water from the Pechipaarai dam in Kanyakumari district or the Tamirabharani, lifeline of southern districts, at any point of time in future.

Instead of imposing nuclear power upon unwilling people, India should join the renewables revolution for handsome gains.

British MPs and members of the European Parliament have signed a letter from South Asian anti-nuclear groups to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressing "deep concern" over human rights and environmental issues around the controversial Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) which they argue "violates" the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s safety guidelines.

London-based groups protesting against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) have pledged to widen their campaign across Europe, as several British MPs voiced their concerns about the plant and the way protestors have been treated, ahead of a protest outside the Indian embassy in London on Friday.

LONDON, 18 MAY: A few British lawmakers have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa protesting against the nuclear power plant at Koodankulam in Tamil Nadu. In the letter, they have demanded halting the construction of the plant claiming that it violated the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Safety Guidelines as “the Koodankulam is in a tsunami and earthquake prone region which has also experienced small volcanic eruptions and is affected by water shortages”. pti