The Vilappil panchayat has called for an all-party meeting on October 16 to discuss the future steps in view of the High Court’s observation on Monday criticising the state government for failing to carry out a Court order at Vilappilsala. The Samyukta Samara Samithi had taken out a protest march on Monday in the panchayat as soon as the Court observation was made.
After the all-party meet, the leaders will reach the city to communicate the decisions to the state government. ‘’We are planning to meet the Chief Minister, Urban Affairs Minister and Opposition Leader to intervene immediately since we make out from the Court observation that we as a panchayat had failed to make our point. The Court is seemingly heeding to the Corporation and our plight is being overlooked,’’ said Shobhanakumari, Vilappil panchayat president.
Meanwhile, the Corporation is of the opinion that the state government is all ears to the panchayat and turning a blind eye to its plight. ‘’The affidavit filed by the government in the Court says that alternative measures are being planned and that a solution is at hand. But nothing has materialised, which is the truth,’’ said V S Padmakumar, Corporation Works Committee chairman.
Protests Against Quarry Landfill
Even before the proposal of quarry landfill has seen light, indications are that it will not be a smooth affair for the district administration. The district administration and Revenue officials who ventured to conduct a survey of the ‘purumboke’ land at a proposed private quarry site at Kalladichavila, near Kattaikonam, had to face stiff resistance from the local people for the second consecutive day on Tuesday.
The private quarry at Kalladichavila is one of the 20 quarries identified for the project. However, the non-functioning quarry has ‘purumboke’ land in the site, according to Revenue officials. It is to draw up the boundaries of the quarry site and to conduct a survey that the officials, including top officials from LSG, Corporation Secretary, RDO, Tahsildar, Village officer and Geology Director, visited the spot on Monday. However, the local people turned up (though in small numbers) and opposed the move.
On Tuesday, the Health Inspector of Kazhakkoottam health office, junior health inspectors and RDO visited the site yet again with workers to clean up the premises so that the survey of the site could be done. However, this time, the local people turned up in big numbers and resisted the move.
‘’There was a resistance on the side of the locals. We had to leave the survey halfway. But that doesn’t mean we are dropping the idea. We are working on a war-footing, but we are not engaged in a war against the locals. We do not want a face-off with them. We will convince them and move ahead,’’ said the RDO, Mohammad Mustafa.
However, CPM’s councillor in Kattaikonam G Vinod said that the local people were determined to stop the move. ‘’The area is reeling under water shortage. The quarry has a water source, which is being used by the people in the neighbourhood to wash and cook. Draining the water and dumping garbage there is a cruel idea,’’ he said.
The resistance that mounted to a tension in the area on Tuesday finally saw an end with the police from Pothencode station arriving on the scene. Though the cleaning up did not happen, officials hinted that they will not bow before the local protests and allow a government proposal to be derailed. However, when asked when the proposal of quarry landfill would finally reach implementation, the officials refused to give a reply.
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