Government not to change Keezhattoor alignment

Thiruvananthapuram: PWD minister G Sudhakaran has said that the alignment that had been chosen for the Taliparamba national highway bypass, which is proposed through the paddy land in Keezhattoor, was the one that would cause the least disruption and displacement. The minister was replying to an adjournment motion moved by Congress legislator V D Satheesan in the Assembly on Tuesday. Mr Sudhakaran, though he was composed and not his usual angry self, but made a provocative comment at the start about the agitators who have called themselves ‘vayal kilikal’ (paddy birds): “It might turn out that they are actually vultures hovering over the paddy lands.”

Mr Sudhakaran said that the other two alternative alignments explored by the district collector involved the demolition of 298 and 78 buildings respectively. “The one we finally chose required the demolition of only 28 buildings,” Mr Sudhakaran said. The minister further said that 56 of the 60 families that would be affected by the proposed bypass had submitted their no-objection certificate. Taliparamba MLA James Mathew said that the protest had been staged by just three families in the area.

Further, countering Satheesan’s claim that the mandatory measures under the Right to Compensation Act were not taken, the PWD minister said that all the necessary procedures like mitigatory plan, public hearing, social impact study and expert appraisal had been carried out. It is said that 11.5 acres of paddy lands will be lost to the bypass. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, intervening during the adjournment motion, said that unnecessary protests would not be allowed to stand in the way of development. “What do you expect the government to do? To put an end to the work just because members of our own party were protesting,” he asked.

(Keezhattoor is a CPM stronghold and all the affected families are affiliated to the CPM.) He also said that the alignment was chosen as there was no other alternative. The PWD minister, too, said that the agitators did not provide an alternative despite repeated requests. “Their leader is simply adamant that they would not allow the width of the highway to be more than 30 metres,” Mr Sudhakran said. Muslim League leader Dr M K Muneer later said that the Sasthra Sahithya Parishad had proposed another alignment.  Though the opposition staged a walk out, the opposition looked to have lost its sting after the speeches made by the Chief Minister and the PWD minister.

Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala made only a general statement that the CPM was trying to smother agitations, and wanted the government to call another round of talks with the agitators. Dr M K Muneer and Kerala Congress’s K M Mani, too, made the same appeal. None questioned the construction of the bypass. Earlier, while moving the adjournment motion, Mr Satheesan said that the PWD minister had in a meeting held on September 29 last year assured the agitators that the alignment would be reconsidered. “What sort of development are you speaking if you cannot convince even the people in party villages,” he said. Satheesan said that farming is done in these areas twice a year, a claim that was rejected by the minister.