The Mananchira-Vellimadukunnu Road Action Committee is gearing up for another round of protests against the government’s alleged inertia over the widening of the 8.4-km stretch of the Mananchira-Vellimadukunnu road in the city.
A meeting of the action committee held here on Tuesday decided to go on an indefinite hunger strike led by 85-year-old historian M.G.S. Narayanan in front of the public library at Mananchira from April 23.
The protest was against the failure of the government to implement the project though the Chief Minister and the Finance Minister had, on several occasions, announced that the road widening project would be included in the second phase of Kozhikode City Road Improvement Project.
Prior to the protest next month, a mass convention will be organised at East Nadakkavu on March 20. Representatives of residents’ associations, corporation councillors, social and cultural leaders, and former Mayors would take part in the convention, committee general secretary M.P. Vasudevan said.
Besides, he said that regional meetings would be held at Vellimadukunnu, Malaparamba, Civil Station, Eranhipalam, Nadakkavu and Malabar Christian College from April 5 to 10. The previous government was compelled to release ₹64 crore following mass protests for implementing the project.
Poll campaign
Mr. Vasudevan said that the candidates of both the Congress-led United Democratic Front and the CPI (M)-led Left Democratic Front, who stood for the Assembly elections, had made the Mananchira-Vellimadukunnu road project a poll campaign.
LDF candidate Pradeepkumar, who won from the Kozhikode North Assembly constituency, in his election manifesto had promised that the entire funds required for the project would be secured from the government.
Isaac’s promise
Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac had also promised that the funds would be sourced from the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board.
Following protests, the government sanctioned ₹50 crore in September 2017. However, the amount was released only after four months, Mr. Vasudevan said.
He said that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan,while inaugurating the first phase of the six road projects on November 14, 2017, had announced that the project was on the priority list of infrastructure development projects.
The Revenue Department had taken into possession the land of as many as 196 property owners for the project. The remaining landowners had also agreed to hand over their property. However, the government was showing reluctance to acquire land under the Land Acquisition Act and to utilise portions of government land already acquired for the project, he said.
