A National Committee has been constituted to support the struggle against the Jaitapur nuclear project in Maharashtra.

The people of the Jaitapur and the surrounding areas in Ratnagiri district have been struggling against the setting up of the giant nuclear project which will have six nuclear reactors bought from the French Areva company. This project has displaced farmers and uprooted lucarative mango orchards. The livelihood of thousands of fishermen are threatened. There is a serious threat to ecology and environment of the region. The Areva EPR reactors have not been commissioned anywhere in the world, not even in France. They are prohibitively expensive and the technology is untried and untested. After the Fukushima disaster in Japan, there are serious concerns about the safety and the health of the people in the region.

The popular protests in Ratnagiri district have been met with severe police repression and permanent restrictions on holding protests. False cases have been instituted on many activists.

To extend support to the people’s struggle in Jaitapur and to mobilise people’s support all over the country to demand a halt to the Jaitapur project, it has been decided to set-up a National Committee in Solidarity with the Jaitapur struggle. A 15-member committee has been constituted consisting of political leaders, members of Parliament, eminent scientists and leading activists. The committee will organise a countrywide campaign against the Jaitapur nuclear project. The list of the members of the committee is given below. Some more persons will be added to the committee.

1. Shri Prakash Karat, General Secretary, CPI(M)

2. Shri A.B.Bardhan, General Secretary, CPI

3. Shri Nama Nageswara Rao, Leader, Telegu Desam Parliamentary Party, Lok Sabha

4. Shri Ramvilas Paswan, President, Lok Janshakti Party and MP, Rajya Sabha

5. Shri Danish Ali, National General Secretary, Janata Dal (Secular)

6. Shri N.D. Patil, President, Peasants and Workers Party

7. Dr. A. Gopalkrishnan, Former Chairman, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board

8. Shri Sitaram Yechury, Leader of CPI (M) in Rajya Sabha

9. Dr. Sulabha Brahme, Adhayksha, Konkan Bachao Samiti

10. Shri D. Raja, Leader of CPI in Rajya Sabha

11. Shri Bhai Vaidya, National President, Socialist Party (India)

12. Shri S.P.Shukla, Former Union Finance Secretary

13. Shri Pravin Gavankar, President, Janhit Seva Samiti

14. Shri Vivek Monteiro, Secretary, Maharashtra State Committee, CITU

15. Shri Prakash Reddy, Secretary, Mumbai Committee, CPI