Police on Wednesday foiled protestors' attempt to reach near the 9,900-MW Jaitapur nuclear project site in Ratnagiri district, Maharashtra. Nearly 2,000 activists, who had taken out a march to protest against the project, were arrested and shifted to a makeshift jail at one of the schools.
As reported by Business Standard, villagers adjacent to the project site reiterated their demand for the cancellation of nuclear project citing safety and security risks. Today's protest march was supported by the opposition Shiv Sena and communist parties.
The police sources said they had issued prohibitory orders and they had denied any formal permission for today's protest march. The district administration, in a bid to avoid any untoward incident, had taken adequate measures including deployment of personnel from the district police, state reserve police force and rapid action force.
The police had served notices to villagers and leaders from various parties and had taken special measures to avoid protest in the adjoining Arabian sea on the lines of agitation launched by villagers against Kudankulam nuclear project in Tamil Nadu.