An action committee opposing the Koyilandy bypass on National Highway-17 has supported the recommendation of the State Assembly petitions committee for a km-and-a-half elevated highway that would lead to the development of Koyilandy town and the ease traffic congestion. Action committee spokesmen said here on Friday that the recommendation of the petitions committee should be accepted since the Koyilandy bypass road from Nandi to Chengottukavu, which was under the consideration of the government, would lead to large-scale displacement of people and destruction of paddy fields and water sources. The action committee will hold a meeting at Koyilandy Kairali theatre at 2 p.m. on Saturday to discuss the issues raised by the bypass project.
The spokesman said a campaign was under way to create an impression that those who gave land for the bypass road project would be handsomely compensated. “These promises are highly exaggerated and are aimed at reducing the momentum of the agitation against the project… the government is planning to entrust the Koyilandy municipality and the Moodadi and Chengottukavu panchayats with the responsibility to rehabilitate the displaced,” they said.
The action committee leaders had said the national highway could be widened instead of building a bypass road since the highway had not been developed for nearly four decades.
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The action committee believes that the recommendation for elevated highway by the Assembly petitions committee, which had visited the place to examine a complaint by action committee representatives, would, if implemented, save the extensive environmental damage that would be caused by the Koyilandy bypass road.