The All India Kisan Sabha and Bharatiya Kisan Mazdoor Union (BKMU), affiliated to the Communist Party of India (CPI), on Tuesday marched to the office of the Mining and Geology Department at Aranmula in protest against indiscriminate land conversions in different parts of the district.
Inaugurating the march, CPI district secretary A.P. Jayan accused Mining and Geology Department officials in the district of succumbing to the pressures of the land mafia. He alleged that quarters attached to the Departments of Police, Revenue, and Mining and Geology were helping the land lobby in illegally converting many environmentally sensitive and biodiversity-rich wetlands, natural water sources, and paddy fields in the district. The low-lying Upper Kuttanad region was the worst affected. Mr. Jayan also expressed concern over the illegal granite quarrying in different parts of the district.