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dam-l LS: Narmada Protesters Climb London's Millennium Wheel
from bbc.co.uk
Monday, October 25, 1999 Published at 22:49 GMT 23:49 UK
Wheel protesters 'staying put'
Two environmental protesters perched on top of London's Millennium
Wheel have said they are determined to stay put until morning.
Two police officers abseiled down the wheel after spending an hour
talking to the pair, who were roped together close to the top.
They are part of a group who evaded security and climbed the
1,500-tonne structure on the banks of the River Thames at about 0600
BST on Monday.
The activists, who are from Basque environmentalist group Solidarios con
Itoitz and Indian group Narmada UK, are protesting against the
construction of controversial dams in Spain and India.
Seven of them came down voluntarily from the wheel and were arrested for
suspected criminal damage. One had been arrested earlier before being
able to climb onto the giant structure.
The Narmada dam project dates back 40 years and has caused protests
since work began 15 years ago.
The brainchild of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru,
environmental campaigners - backed by Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy
- say it will submerge forest farmland and disrupt downstream fisheries.
There is also anger over the displacement of up to 250,000 people.
However, the protest has prompted a security review by British Airways,
which sponsors the wheel, officially known as the London Eye. A
spokeswoman said security will be "very different" when the wheel is in
operation.
Site managers said there was little they could have done to stop the
protesters, who scaled the wheel in about half an hour by climbing a
maintenance ladder.
Tim Renwick, from project construction firm MACE, said: "Short
of using dogs and barbed wire here, there is nothing we can do. We can't
stop them coming in by river."
The wheel, which affords spectacular views over the capital, reached its
final position last Monday.
Due to open on Millennium Eve, it is London's fourth-tallest structure and
will stay in position for at least five years, with a capacity to carry 15,000
people a day.