CHENNAI: Though a seasoned politician, Mano Thangaraj is now a lone ranger, out on a mission, travelling all over Tamil Nadu, mobilising support of people from various walks of life for the ongoing struggle against the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant.Hailing from Karungal in Kanyakumari district, Thangaraj was the district panchayat chairman from 1996 to 2006 and has been involved in politics since his college days - he was the students’ union chairman of Marthandam Christian College. His first brush with the agitation against the Koodankulam plant began in 1988 when a protest was launched in his district against the proposal to draw water from the Pechiparai reservoir.“The movement was called ‘Koodankulam Anuulai Ethirupu - Pechiparai Neer Pathukappu Iyakkam’ (Movement to protest Koodankulam atomic reactor and protect Pechiparai water) and I was in the forefront with Dr Kumaradoss,” he recalled. It was then a pro-farmer protest as the reservoir water was primarily used for irrigation in the district. The movement organised 101 meetings across the district in one month - on an average of three a day.Then, a ‘borderstone demolition’ agitation was also organised by Thangaraj and others to remove the stone markers erected as a prelude to the laying of a pipeline from Pechiparai to Koodankulam. Many people, including Thangaraj, courted arrest. Then a Kanyakumari district bandh was organised by the organisation. All that happened in 1989-90 when the movement was at its peak. Then, the Soviet Union fell, putting the project itself in a limbo.After the protest revived in August 2011, under the banner of People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), Thangaraj again joined the agitation and is now the convenor of the political consultative committee of PMANE.Apart from organising a huge rally in Nagercoil last month, Thangaraj has been going from town to town. He has formed groups of professionals in support of the agitation in various places. He even wants to form a group called ‘Journalists Against Nuclear Energy’ in Chennai and has spoken to some media persons.His travel and interaction with people have made him realise that governments will no longer be able to steamroll projects without securing people’s consent.Besides that, he observed that awareness on the dangers of nuclear reactors was growing and that had helped widen the support base for the Koodankulam protest.
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