A conference of the Paristhiti Samrakshana Ekopana Samithi (environment protection coordination committee) here on Monday called upon the Union government to take steps to address the fears of people about the Kudankulam nuclear power plant project. A statement in this connection said the fears should be seen in the backdrop of a recent blast on a nuclear site in France. C.R. Neelakantan, social activist, who addressed the conference, called for a review of the decision to establish such a plant in a thickly populated area such as Kudankulam. Such projects should be set up after evicting people from within a 200-km radius. He said Kudankulam was just 100 km from Thiruvananthapuram, and in the event of any nuclear accident, radiation would reach the State capital and even Kollam and Pathanamthitta districts. He said water used for cooling the nuclear plant would be discharged into the sea. The radioactive pollutants could hence affect marine life. The conference called for an immediate ban on the rampant mining of sand from land in East Kallada and declaring the area environmentally fragile. Strong steps should be taken to prevent mining of sand from the Ashtamudi lake. A study should be conducted on the alarming salinity intrusion during high tide at Munroethuruthu, it said. The conference elected T.K. Vinodan, environment activist, the chairman of the samithi. K.P. Sasi, activist, inaugurated the session. Odanavattam Vijayaprakash, general convener of the samithi, presented the report. Concern over N-plants in thickly populated areas like Kudankulam Plea for ban on sand-mining in East Kallada