3,000 court arrest against Indias biggest N-reactor…..Anil Singh
Madban village (Ratnagiri ): This tranquil,coastal village witnessed a tsunami of protest on Friday as wave upon wave of villagers courted arrest in protest against the plans to construct Indias largest nuclear power project in Ratnagiri.Villagers including women,patiently waited for their turn to be arrested.By 6 pm,976 arrests had been made but the villagers kept pouring in at the venue,the Bhagwati temple in the village.
Nearly 2,000 people were still left at the temple ground when the police gave up and requested the leaders of the agitation to call it off.The villagers were arrested for flouting prohibitory orders which forbid a gathering of more than five persons.It should now be clear to the government that the people do not want this project, said Pravin Gavankar,president of the Janhit Seva Samiti formed five years ago by the villagers to oppose the project.The 250-strong police contingent came with riot gear,rifles and ambulances but the villagers walked into the waiting police vans after a token protest.
The villagers also proved a point to state revenue minister Narayan Rane,who had said the villagers were not opposed to the plant and the agitation was the work of outsiders.Retired HC judge B G Kolse-Patil flouted orders prohibiting him from entering Ratnagiri and reached Madban using the sea route.Retired SC judge P B Samant and former admiral L Ramdas were stopped by the police at Hativali junction under section 68 and 69 of the Bombay police Act.
* THE RATNAGIRI N-PLANT SITE