Govt, oppn spar over Avikkal sewage plant

Thiruvananthapuram: The ruling front and the opposition locked horns over the Avikkal canal sewage treatment plant in Kozhikode corporation limits in the assembly on Tuesday.
Local self-government minister M V Govindan said that extremists like SDPI and Jamaat-e-Islami activists were behind the protest against the plant. The opposition took a strong exception to the minister’s comments and demanded that the project be immediately stopped, and discussions be held with people residing around the project and those opposing it.
The minister said that the upcoming project is with proven most modern technology available. He cited the example of the sewage treatment project in the medical college in the capital. He said that the project area would be converted into a park, where people can visit and also see the functioning. However, he said that organizations like SDPI and Jamaat-e-Islami are behind the present protests, and the protesting people have fallen into the hands of these extremist organizations.
Opposition leader V D Satheesan demanded that the work on the project be immediately stopped and discussions be held to immediately relocate the plant to another agreeable place from the present location which is thickly populated with homes of fishermen community. There are hundreds of poor fishermen families residing in this area and the place where the project is coming up is in the middle of the colony which initially was a wetland and was filled in the name of creating a parking ground for heavy vehicles. “Painting anyone who protests against the project as a terrorist is not agreeable. The lessons of Brahmapuram and Vilappilsala are before us. It is not the right way to dump the waste of a city in a nearby village. Such projects should be implemented only in a transparent manner and after holding proper discussions with the public,” he said.
IUML leader M K Muneer, who sought leave for adjournment motion, asked why the government is adamant that the project be implemented in that location when there are several other nearby places suitable for the project. He said that the police brutally came down on the protestors, and several poor, including women, fell victims to police brutality. He blamed that the chief minister who termed the fishermen of the state as the state’s own navy, are torturing them in the name of this project. The opposition staged a walk-out after speaker M B Rajesh denied permission for the adjournment motion.