N-plant protest: PM sends minister

At the behest of the Prime Minister, Union Minister of State in the PMO, V Narayanaswamy , on Tuesday visited Tamil Nadu and tried to meet the villagers to assuage their anger over the construction of a nuclear plant at Koodankulam in southern region in Russian collaboration.

But reports said he was not allowed to speak at the protest site and the agitating villagers and fishermen demanded that the plant be scrapped.

V Narayanaswamy earlier on way to the site said all safety precautions have been taken and hopefully people would be convinced of the assurances of the government on that.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday called Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, assuring assistance in dealing with protests by villagers against the upcoming nuclear power plant in the state.

Jayalalithaa had sent a strong letter to Singh on Monday morning, accusing the Central government of "abdicating" its responsibility and asked that work at the site be halted till the disputes are resolved.

About 100 villagers have been on a hunger strike for nine days against the nuclear plant, that is coming up in Koodankulam in southern Tamil Nadu, 614 kilometres from Chennai, raising concerns over the safety.

Even though India's Department of Atomic Energy had cleared the project, locals and environmental organisations, including Greenpeace, have raised concerns over the projects use of purportedly risky Russian technology.

Responding to Jayalalithaa's demand to the Centre to send "competent authorities" to talk to residents of the area, the Prime Minister promised to send senior minister V Narayanaswamy to address the concerns, reports said.

Reports said the Russians have expressed unhappiness over the latest developments.