Chengottumala Samrakshana Samiti, an action council of local residents and environmental activists in Kottur grama panchayat, on Monday withdrew its indefinite hunger protest plan after getting an assurance from the local panchayat authorities that the quarry project would not be given sanction at the oncoming hearing by the State-level single window clearance committee.
Samiti leaders claimed that the panchayat authorities had given the assurance after getting in touch the Industries Department authorities who would be considering the files at the proposed State-level hearing on October 23.
K. Biju, action committee leader, said the Samiti would wait till October 23 to know the final decision of the department. “We will launch the hunger strike if the the quarry project is granted clearance,” he added.
The Kottur grama panchayat authorities said chances of getting approval for the project were minimal as it had already been rejected by the district-level single window clearance committee.
The State-level hearing will only cross-check the findings of the district-level committee and the claims of the quarry operators to challenge them with documentary evidence, they added.
The action committee had been in the forefront of protest against the project citing acute shortage of potable water and the continuing natural calamity threats in the region.
Moreover, the villagers had claimed that the project would displace them and upset the pristine environment, they said. It was on July 14 that the district-level single window clearance committee denied environmental clearance to the project. Earlier, the Kerala High Court too had stayed the lease agreement for the project on the Samiti’s petition.
