Hundreds of villagers including women and children gathered at Mithivirdi, about 40 kilometer away from Bhavnagar, on Saturday to celebrate the government decision to shift a proposed 6000 MW nuclear power plant from Mithivirdi to Andhra Pradesh.
Earlier this year, the Centre had told the National Green Tribunal that it was shifting the proposed power plant from Mithivirdi to Kovvada in Andhra Pradesh. The plant was to be set up in accordance with an agreement between India and the United States.
After the Centre's submission, the NGT had disposed of a petition filed by villagers of Mithivirdi and Jasapara, and Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti, a group of environmentalists in Gujarat.
The two-day celebrations began on Saturday with representatives of voluntary organisations interacting with school children of the age group of 12 to 15 years. Krishnakant, a member of the PSS said that through interactive session, children were given knowledge about a host of issues, including radiation. He said that the students were very well aware about the villagers' struggle and in fact some of them had also participated in rallies held in the past.
Rohit Prajapati, another member of the PSS, remarked that the programmes were meant to show gratitude towards the villagers for waging the struggle successfully.
Utthan and Sahiyar, organisations working for women, have also joined hands with the PSS to organise the programmes, which are also aimed at empowering women and the children.
Dipali Ghelani of Sahiyar said that women were so happy when they were taken to seashore as many of them had never seen the seashore before. There is a crematorium on the shore. “Many told us that if we had not brought them there, they would have been brought only after they closed their eyes,” Ghelani said.
Dressed in sari, women also played cricket. The idea was to break the stereotype, Ghelani said. Thirty-seven-year old Jagruti Gohil of Jasapara, who took the cricket bat for the first time, was thrilled. “I enjoyed a lot,” she told THE WEEK. They also planted saplings.
Later they paid tribute to Gauri Lankesh, a Karnataka journalist who was killed earlier this week. Women were also made to play “snakes and ladders” game and through it they were asked various questions related to managing homes and inter-personal relationships in the family.
At night, Charul and Vinay, the activist couple who use music to highlight the social, economical and cultural issues, gave a performance. This was the first such exposure for the villagers.
On Sunday, people from 50 villages, incumbent and former sarpanchs, who have given their bit in the struggle against the proposed nuclear power plant, will attend a meeting.
As a prelude to the celebrations, children and some villagers had gathered on Thursday morning to sing awareness songs on various issues in form of “prabhat feri” (moving around in the streets in the morning). Later, they also cleaned the village.
The villagers have had waged a decade-long struggle in which they took out rallies, made representations and even went to participate in various programmes held across the country. The protesters had alleged that the proposed nuclear plant could affect around 50 villages near Mithivirdi.
The farmers held that their land, which is fertile now, would be badly affected in case the plant was set up. As part of their campaign, they participated in several other programmes like Nirma's cement plant in Saurashtra.
