People of the villages in and around Kalamavur staged a road roko at Kalamavur on Tiruchi–Pudukottai National Highway, protesting against the plan for inclusion of their villages with the proposed Viralimalai taluk on Wednesday.
They said that the shift from the present Kulathur taluk to the new taluk would do more harm than good to them.
Police and revenue officials from Keeranur, Pudukottai, and Kulathur rushed to the spot and held talks with them following which the protesters withdrew the agitation.
S. Natarajan, secretary of the Kundrandarkovil union wing of Communist Party of India, said that major villages – Kalamavur, Naickanpatti, Mandaiyur and Mathur-were planned to be annexed with the Viralimalai taluk.
He said that the residents, students and farmers would be hard hit if the transfer was implemented.
At present, these villages were located close to the Kulathur taluk office which was just 5 to 10 km. But the shift would force the people to travel more than 20 km by changing two buses as there was no direct link between these villages and Viralimalai. Meanwhile, the people of Muthukadu, Vellanur, and Sathyamangalam had expressed their protest against the carving of their villages from the present Kulathur taluk and proposed link with either Viralimalai or Iluppur taluk.
“In either case, the transfer will cause a setback to the villagers who will be forced to travel a longer distance to get their certificates or assistance from the taluk office,” says K.R. Dharmarajan, Annavasal unit secretary of the CPI. The people planned to launch a stir demanding status quo for their villages on August 19, he said.
