---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Krishnakant <[email protected]>
Date: 12 September 2011 08:34
**
Dear Friends
Kindly find below the report of the Conference held in Ahmedabad on 27th
August. Kindly read and circulate.
Best Regards
Krishnakant
*Report of Conference on Anti-NPP struggles in India and Lessons from
Fukushima*
Gujarat Sarvodaya Mandal, Sampoorna Kranti Vidyalaya, Gujarat Vidyapith,
Manviya Technology Forum and other organisations held a one-day conference
on 'Anti-nuclear struggles in India and Lessons from Fukushima' on
27thAugust, 2011 in Ahmedabad. If lessons were not learnt and nuclear
projects
not re-thought about after Chernobyl, there was some hope that Fukushima
would inspire the same. But the reactions of the nuclear establishments in
Japan and India clearly show evidence to the contrary.TEPCO (the corporation
running the Fukushima Nuclear power plant) and the powers-that-be have been
very economical with the truth, and truth has come out in instalments 'from
other sources'. This is a sorry state of affairs in the information and
technology driven 21st century. By the same token the Indian nuclear
establishment has been arrogant in its approach to fears raised by both
experts and affected people (such as those in Jaitapur). Their constant
refrain has been 'Indian experts are second to none', and these technical
matters better be left to experts.
*Leaving matters of life and death to experts*
If anyone thought that was reassuring consider the following* (examples
of leaving matters of life and death to experts):*
-
we left the economy to economists and we have financial crashes worldwide
every now and then and are not out of the most recent one since.
-
we leave justice to courts and we have any number of examples of problems
hanging from Union Carbide, Bhopal to POSCO, Enron.
-
we leave health to doctors and hospitals (both private & public) we
either get death or debt!
-
nuclear energy was left to experts and we had Three Mile Island,
Chernobyl and Fukushima.
Kazue Suzuki of Japan is an activist with GreenPeace Japan. She addressed
the conference over internet video, about how TEPCO misguided the people of
Japan and the Government about the radiation releases. It took over a month
for the company and the government to admit that there was a melt down at
Fukushima. Even now the radiation level in many parts of Japan are at
dangerous levels, however the citizens are kept in dark about that. Instead
of trusting the company and the establishment people are themselves carrying
radiation monitoring equipments to save themselves.
Leaving decisions about 8-10,000 MW nuclear power plants each in Jaitapur,
Mithi Virdi, Haripura, Fatehabad, Kudankulam, Kovvada to NPCIL, DAE, AERB
and their State advisors would indeed be very courageous. Suicidal actually!
While lay wisdom may be uncommon among experts it is the norm among common
citizens. The conference brought together representatives of affected people
from Tarapur, Jaitapur, Mithi Virdi, Fatehabad and Jadugoda (uranium
mining). The common thread running through the presentations of the affected
people - whether it is from sites where uranium mining takes place or where
power plants are established - is that of lofty initial promises, the
realisation of those promises being big black lies, targets not being met,
employment not being generated, facts about health effects being hidden and
sought to be covered up, and then excuses when the inevitable happens.
That was tragic story Ashish Birulee of Jadugoda area narrated about UCIL's
mining operations and their impact in his area. UCIL has only lied to,
covered up and brow-beaten affected people. UCIL has worked in their area
for over 30-35 years and evidence of wanton environmental destruction and
health effects is unmistakable for everyone except UCIL.
Whether it is an old operation like Jadugoda or a newly initiated one like
Jaitapur lies only become damn lies. Vaishali Patil narrated how State
violence is used to foist the project on an unwilling populace. At least
three people have become martyrs in the struggle to resist the 10 000 MW
monster.
The Mithi Virdi facts related by Lakhanbhai and Fatehabad story by Yashvir
Arya highlighted the secrecy & sleaze of NPCIL's operations.
Dr Surendra Gadekar and Dr Sanghamitra demolished the nuclear establishments
'do-not-worry' assurances with their detailed analysis and exposes of the
aftermath of both Chernobyl and the 'tragedy-in-progress' Fukushima.
Alternatives to our existing power systems would encompass not just
electricity generation alternatives like wind, solar or other renewable
sources but as a first priority efficiency, cutting down on transmission &
distribution losses, stoppage of indiscriminate use, controlling wasteful &
unsustainable demand, lifestyle changes, reducing consumption and
substantial incentives to efficient users etc. It was also discussed that
India being a vast country and the difficulty of installing the grid
everywhere meant that decentralised electricity generation and distribution
had to be integrated in the mainstream power system planning and appropriate
importance be given to it. Similarly, sustainable planning for remote area
electrification had to be planned so that it could be installed as well as
maintained instead of the current attitude of install and forget in RGGVY
and similar schemes. There are a number of small scale experiments and
models exist which could show the direction in implementing this.
Foregoing indiscriminate consumption is definitely let troublesome than
Chernobyl and Fukushima. That has to be the way forward as referenda and or
public policy shifts in Italy, Switzerland and Germany have shown.
News coverage of conference-
http://www.dnaindia.com/print710.php?cid=1580561
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=RVRELzIwMTEvMDkvMDIjQXIwMDEwNw==&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-08-28/ahmedabad/29937780_1_jaitapur-n-plant-mithi-virdi-nuclear-power
http://www.indiaeveryday.in/tamilnadu/news-activists-share-their-anti-nuclear-power-plant-struggle-1128-2975724.htm
http://www.congoo.com/news/2011August28/Activists-anti-nuclear-power-plant
http://newspolitan.com/india/ahmedabad/2011/08/28/timesofindia-Activists-share-their-anti-nuclear-power-plant-struggle-woes
http://news.ahmedabadbreakingnews.com/tweets/107739463131738112
http://www.samachar.com/Activists-share-their-antinuclear-power-plant-struggle-woes-li2lLFhbcbg.html
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