An Anti-airport Joint Action Council (AJAC) meeting chaired by council chairperson Sugathakumari at Aranmula on Wednesday decided to submit a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, highlighting the violation of key laws in the name of the airport project proposed at Aranmula.
Addressing the meeting, Ms. Sugathakumari said the statements made by the Union Ministers for Civil Aviation, Defence, and Environment exposed the propaganda unleashed by the KGS Group regarding the airport project. The KGS had stated that it had already started a fresh Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) in Aranmula on the basis of the terms of reference granted by the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The company further announced that the Prime Minister would lay the foundation stone for the airport. However, the minutes of the EAC meeting proved that these statements were lies, she said.
Communist Party of India State secretary Kanam Rajendran, Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member M.A. Baby, and Mullakkara Ratnakaran, MLA, suggested that it was high time to meet the Prime Minister in person and apprise him of the serious concern of the villagers against the project.
Satyagraha
The AJAC meeting decided to stage a march to the collectorate from Aranmula on June 10 protesting against the “gross violation of laws and court orders by the District Collector” regarding restoration of the illegally converted natural stream at Aranmula Puncha, mutation of land in the possession of the airport company, etc. The AJAC would also stage a satyagraha in front of the Legislative Assembly in June.
Council chief patron Kummanam Rajashekharan said that the AJAC would explore the possibility of initiating criminal proceedings against Chief Minister Oommen Chandy for ‘backing violation of key laws in the name of the airport project.’
