The local action committee for protecting paddy fields and wetlands, which is spearheading an agitation against the proposed project to set up a dedicated petroleum storage terminal of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) at Kandankali, near Payyannur, will intensify the stir against the project.
The agitators say the project will destroy nearly 100 acres of paddy fields and wetlands on the bank of the Kavvayi river.
The action committee will stage a dharna in front of the Collectorate here on April 4 demanding that the State government reject the proposal and remove the amendment to the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act.
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Environmental and social activists will address the dharna.
The action committee, which met here on April 1, said that there would be no drinking water for the future generation in the State if the remaining paddy fields and wetlands were not protected.
Evaluating that the Act passed in the Assembly in 2008 had been adequate to some extent to protect the paddy fields, it said that the present government amended the Act by subverting the enactment.
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As per the new amendment, wetlands and paddy fields could be taken over by the government for public requirement. The amendment was accelerating the depletion of the paddy fields in the State, the committee said.
It demanded that the amendment be immediately revoked.
The government should withdraw from the decision to implement developmental activities by converting paddy fields and wetlands.
EIA report rejected
The people of Kandankali had unanimously rejected the environment impact assessment (EIA) on the proposed storage facility, the committee recalled urging the government to shelve the project without further delay.
If the demand was not met, the committee would chalk out plans to intensify people’s agitation.
The meeting was chaired by environmental activist T.P. Padmanabhan.
Among those who spoke included K. Ramachandran, Athayi Balan, Appukkuttan Karayil, M. Sudhakaran, K.P. Ramachandran.