Contract workers at Kudankulam nuclear plant will be sent home in phased manner: Tamil Nadu govt

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday (May 12, 2020) said that the contract workers at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project Plant (KNPPP) in Tirunelveli district will be sent back to their respective states in a phased manner.

The announcement was made by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister EK Palaniswami, who said that those willing to leave will be sent back in close coordination with their respective states.

This comes after a large number of workers had gathered on May 9 and halted work demanding that they should be sent back to their homes immediately. Staging a sit-in on the KKNPP premises, the workers alleged that they have been kept in temporary sheds, urging their contractors to send them back to their native places immediately.

When police arrived at the scene and intervened and tried to explain the situation, few workers clashed with the cops and some of them were injured.

The situation was brought under control after additional policemen were rushed to the KKNPP premises. A large number of policemen have been deployed inside the KKNPP premises to prevent untoward incidents. Additional fire tenders have also been stationed on the atomic power station campus.

It may be noted that the Tamil Nadu government has so far sent 13,000 workers back to their home states amid coronavirus lockdown.