Environmental and social activists and political workers belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other outfits gathered in large numbers in the paddy fields here on Sunday to express solidarity with the ‘Vayalkilikal,’ a group of local residents spearheading an agitation against the proposed National Highway bypass passing through the fields.
The march named ‘Keralam Keezhatturilekku’ (Kerala to Keezhattur) organised under the aegis of the Keezhattur Agitation Solidarity Committee comprising environmental and social activists addressed by among others, Congress leader V.M. Sudheeran; Suresh Gopi, MP; P.C. George, MLA; and activist C.R. Neelakandan, saw large turnout of activists from different parts of the State in support of Vayalkilikal.
This village, a CPI(M) stronghold in the Taliparamba municipality, has been witnessing a standoff since the Vayalkilikal, the group that included party workers and sympathisers, intensified their agitation against the bypass in defiance of the CPI(M) district leadership’s stand favouring the bypass alignment finalised by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).
The march was inaugurated by Vayalkilikal activist and farmer Nambradath Janaki by announcing that the struggle to protect the paddy fields would continue with greater courage. Suresh Keezhattur, leader of the agitation, read out a pledge that said that the protection of Western Ghats, midland hills, paddy fields, and wetlands were important for the survival and sustenance.
Addressing the march, Mr. Suresh Gopi said he had decided to be part of the struggle when he watched on TV the ‘samara pandal’ of the agitators being set ablaze by alleged CPI(M) workers on March 14. Stating that road development was essential, he said that such projects should be implemented without harming the environment. Urging Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to intervene to find an amicable solution to the issue, he said the matter would also be brought to the notice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Mr. Sudheeran, who joined the march from Taliparamba to this village, said no social impact and environment impact analyses and expert group study had been conducted with regard to the proposed bypass. The CPI(M) was now using the tactics of landlords to suppress the struggles of Communists, he said calling upon the government to explore alternatives to the bypass that would destroy the paddy fields here. Real enemies of development were those who were denying the people their drinking water and source of food and opening more liquor outlets.
The Vayalkilikal announced that it would re-install the ‘samara pandal’ here. Large posse of police personnel were deployed here to avert any tense situation.
