The people’s action council and leaders of various political parties have taken strong exception to the clearance given for the proposed private airport project at Aranmula by the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) attached to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.
In a statement here on Thursday, R. Induchoodan, convener of the Palliyoda-Pallivilakku Samrakshana Samiti (PPSS) which has been spearheading a campaign against the proposed private airport, said his organisation would soon launch a legal battle against the clearance given by the EAC. Paddy cultivation in Aranmula’s fertile fields has been disrupted due to water-logging following the filling of the Kozhithode stream as part of the work on the Nalkalickal bridge on the Kidangannur-Aranmula road. The illegal conversion of the Valiyathode stream in the name of the airport project has aggravated the problem, he added.
He said the State government’s report that the Aranmula paddy fields had been lying fallow for the past 10 years was absolutely baseless. The Samiti and other peasant bodies have provided ample proof before the Assembly Committee on Environment and the government that paddy cultivation had been going on in the fields till 2011.
Probe sought
In another statement, Thiruvaranmula Paithruka Grama Karma Samiti president K. Haridas and secretary P.R. Shaji sought a comprehensive probe into the entire issue. They alleged that whatever reports the State authorities and the private airport company had submitted to the Union Ministry had misrepresented facts. The private company has been involved in a campaign that the project is supported by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Adviser T.K.A. Nair.
K.K. Royson, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee member, contested the claim that there was no cultivation in the Aranmula paddy fields for the past 10 years. Mr. Royson, a former district panchayat president, said there was ample evidence to prove that the farmers of Aranmula used to cultivate paddy in the fields till 2011. The State government had purchased their paddy and provided them subsidy till 2011, he added.
Cancel clearance: CPI
In a statement, the Communist Party of India district secretary P. Prasad said the Assembly Committee on Environment, chaired by C.P. Mohammed, had cautioned the government on the hazardous environmental implications in the event of the conversion of the fields.
Mr. Prasad questioned the credibility of the report submitted by State Pollution Control Board engineer Sreekantan Nair on Aranmula. He called upon the Centre to reconsider the decision and warned of strong agitation if the government continued its support to the proposed private airport project.
