Ratnagiri, Apr 19 (ANI): Shiv Sena today called a shutdown in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district to protest the police firing in which one person was killed while opposing the 9,900 MW Jaitapur nuclear power project.
Sena activists pelted stones, shattered the glass of public transport buses and blocked the Ratnagiri-Kolhapur Highway by dumping burning tyres on it.
In some places, they also deflated tyres of buses and trucks..
On Monday, one person was killed in police firing and several were injured, as the protest against the nuclear power plant in Jaitapur turned violent.
Tabrez Sayekar, 30, was killed when the police opened fired on a mob of 700 villagers that vandalised the local police station and torched a police van.
The protests took place close on the heels of Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh's statement on Friday that that the government would implement the Jaitapur project despite hurdles.
The Minister's ruling out a "rethink" appears to have given a further fillip to the protests.
The nuclear project at Jaitapur, which would be built in collaboration with French firm Areva, has run into rough weather as protesters have argued that it would harm the local environment and put people at risk.
The project site is 25 meters above sea level. In the wake of the nuclear crisis in Japan, India is planning urgent steps to review safety norms in its nuclear power plants in case of any eventuality and to withstand natural disasters of the magnitude as witnessed in Japan.
India has 20 nuclear reactors in operation in six power plants, generating over 4,000 megawatts of electricity while five other plants are under construction. (ANI)
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