Residents of Koodankulam, Idinthakarai and nearby villages in Tamil Nadu plan to go on a hunger strike on September 11 at Idinthakarai in Tirunelveli district.
They are demanding closure of Koodankulam nuclear-power plants, a release from the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy said here on Wednesday.
The decision to intensify the stir was taken after the Atomic Energy Commission Chairman, Dr Srikumar Banerjee's recent announcement that “one of the two (Koodankulam plants) would attain criticality by September and the second by early 2012”, as reported in the media.
“This is a clear violation of the ongoing process of dialogue.
“We are afraid that the Government is secretly trying to open the Koodankulam plants even as they are talking to us about closing down,” the release added.
“We are inviting social activists such as Mr Anna Hazare, Ms Medha Patkar, Ms Aruna Roy and others to participate in our struggle….
“We are also appealing to MPs and MLAs from Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari and Tuticorin districts and leaders of all political parties in Tamil Nadu,” it added.
The agitating villagers said they had also been assured support by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), writer Ms Arundhati Roy and Australian Greens Senator, Mr Scott Ludlam.