This refers to the report “Ex-Secretary locks horn with Kalam on Kudankulam” (November 8). Former President A P J Abdul Kalam must have a very low opinion of the locals to come out with the offer of a “massive” Rs 200-crore special development plan – Kudankulam PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) – as a bribe. It is loathsome that he, of all the people, did it. Kalam, who was born and brought some miles away from Kudankulam in Rameswaram, let the people of his native place down. The locals expected much better from him than the denigration of their spontaneous struggle as one sponsored by “market forces”. The conclusions that Kalam came to after a few hours of his visit to Kudankulam are highly questionable. His assertions like “the plant is 100 per cent safe” and “people should not have even a nano-sized doubt over its safety” cannot mask the gravity of the risks the proposed “Nuclear Park” in a coastal region designated as “Marine Park” pose to the lives and livelihoods of the people and the marine ecology. If people refuse to be nuclear guinea pigs, they cannot be dubbed “illiterate” and “half-literate”. No matter what the nuclear lobby says, their lives are precious to them and they have the inalienable right to live without the constant fear of a disaster.
G David Milton, Maruthancode
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