New Delhi: In an attempt to sharpen its agitation against the Jaitapur nuclear project in Maharashtra, a 15-member national committee has been constituted consisting of top Left leaders Prakash Karat, A B Bardhan, nuclear expert A Gopalakrishnan and local leaders who have been at the forefront of the struggle. The panel will organize a countrywide campaign against the project. In a statement on behalf of the national committee on Sunday, CPM said the people of Jaitapur and surrounding areas in Ratnagiri district have been struggling against the setting up of the giant nuclear project which will have six nuclear reactors bought from French company Areva. “This project has displaced farmers and mango orchards they were cultivating. The livelihood of thousands of fishermen are threatened,” the committee said. Apart from pointing out serious threat to ecology and environment of the region, the committee said the Areva reactors were not commissioned anywhere in the world, not even in France. “They are prohibitively expensive and the technology is untried and untested. After the Fukushima disaster in Japan, there are serious concerns about the safety and the health of the people in the region,” it added. The committee said popular protests in Ratnagiri district were met with severe police repression and permanent restrictions on holding protests. False cases had been instituted on many activists, it added. The committee was set up to extend support to the people’s struggle in Jaitapur and to mobilize people’s support all over the country to demand a halt to the project. The committee consists of Sitaram Yechury of CPM, D Raja of CPI, Nama Nageswara Rao of Telugu Desam Party, Ramvilas Paswan, president Lok Janshakti Party, N D Patil of Peasants and Workers Party, Sulabha Brahme of Konkan Bachao Samiti, Bhai Vaidya of Socialist Party (India), Pravin Gavankar of Janhit Seva Samiti, Vivek Monteiro, secretary, Maharashtra State Committee, CITU, and Prakash Reddy of CPI.