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Chronicle of a Disaster Foretold: Why the Koodankulam Nuclear Plant Should be Shut Down
| Gopakumar Thampi |
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The bad thing about democracy is that you can have five wolfs and a lamb
sitting around the dining table and voting on what to have for dinner. Majority
rule only works if we are considering individual rights. In Koodankulam, Tamil
Nadu the lambs are taking on the wolves, reiterating the fact that the practice
of democracy should be inclusive and respect the primacy of individual and
collective rights, including the right to protest. The people's protest against
the nuclear plant in Koodankulam is a symbol of resistance over repression and a
fight of morals over profits. However, in the din of the economic growth frenzy,
such expressions are often relegated to the footnotes of contemporary history.
Tools of the Digital Age tell a compelling tale. A Google search of the phrase
'India Shining' yielded a count of 2,140,000 results. A similar search for 'Koodankulam'
provided just 117,000. Acolytes of the India Shining story has a tendency to
relegate all genuine protests regarding degradation of environment or protection
of livelihoods as 'anti development' and 'regressive'. For the blue-eyed
technocrats and their Pentium-powered visions, development is all about
bandwidths and blue chip stocks. The storyline of post-liberalized India is
replete with economic miracles and the concomitant rise of the Great Indian
Middle Class. Tomes have already been written about the rise of India as a new
super power and how the future belongs to the imaginative entrepreneurial spirit
emanating from this former enclave of poverty and deprivation. But the
underbelly of the beast is rarely made visible to the public as forest covers
disappear, mountains and streams are appropriated for corporate interests and
fundamental rights of the marginalized are trampled upon in the mad rush to meet
double-digit growth statistics. Koodankulam stands as an inverted metaphor for
the India Shining Story. The case is simple. Koodankulam, in many sense was a
product of India's early nuclear ambitions starting with the 1974 Pokhran
experiments and the subsequent US embargo on fuel shipments to Tarapore. This
triggered the series of collaborations with Soviet Union in the earlier phase,
and later with Russia. Interestingly, the decision to set up a nuclear plant in
Koodankulam met with resistance right from the start; initially, on the issue of
water usage and later on, encompassing a wider gamut of issues. What is
appalling is that despite growing opposition to the plant and the terrifying
roll-call of disasters - SL-1 (1961), Three Mile Island (1979), Chernobyl (1986)
and the more recent Fukushima Daiichi (2011) - successive governments went ahead
with the plan, paying scant regard to popular sentiments and informed
objections. Leaving aside all debates on the technical choices, source
suitability and the like, the bare fact remains that the decision to built a
plant has already damaged the livelihood and ecosystems of the communities
living in and around the site. And whenever dissent surfaced, force
was ruthlessly used to subdue it. Now Koodankulum is once again in the lime
light as the embers of a genuine struggle refuses to die and in one collective
flare illuminates the travesty of justice that is playing out in the coastal
hamlets. Jananeethi join hands with the brave people of Koodankulam in their
struggle for their voice to be heard, their aspirations to be met and their
rights to be protected.
- September 20, 2011 -