The All-Kerala River Protection Committee is planning to mobilise people at the grassroots-level to strengthen the agitation against the SilverLine project. State secretary of the committee T.V. Rajan said several seminars were being planned across the State to create awareness among people.
“The people in the coastal areas of Kerala are somewhat aware of the project if not involved in the protest against it. But those in remote and hilly areas do not pay much attention to the controversy, especially since it does not affect them directly. The seminars are being held in such locations so that they too become aware of it,” said Mr. Rajan.
The first of the seminars was held at Poovattuparamba in Kozhikode on Thursday. The next will be held at Vazhakkad in Malappuram district, and then at Balussery in Kozhikode. Since there are restrictions on crowds due to the pandemic, the dates of the seminars are yet to be finalised.
Speaking at the seminar at Poovattuparamba, Anti-K-Rail Protest Committee convenor T.T. Ismail said the ecology of Kerala would be severely disrupted if the SilverLine project was implemented and the State would be divided into two — the east and the west of SilverLine.
The seminar on ‘Environmental challenges posed by K-Rail’ was organised on the occasion of World Wetland Day. The speakers were unanimous about resisting the project at any cost as it “denoted the end of several wetlands in the State”. They urged the State government to withdraw from the project, which would adversely affect not just the ecology, but also the social and economic sectors of Kerala.
Activist and writer Vijayaraghavan Cheliya said the Left parties were working for the corporates and had always shown double standards on matters related to the environment, citing the Silent Valley and Plachimada protests.
District secretary of All-Kerala River Protection Committee Shabari Mundakkal presided over the event, inaugurated by Peruvayal grama panchayat president P. Zuhara.
