Kezhattoor strike, Centre to intervene
The team led by John Thomas, research officer of the department at Bengaluru, would visit the Keezhattoor village on May 3 and May 4.
Kannur: The central government is intervening in the agitation of farmers at Keezhattoor to save the paddy fields from the proposed bypass project reclaiming the fertile paddy fields.
A team of officials from the union ministry of forests, environment and climate change, would examine the spot in May to gather details of a complaint submitted by BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan, demanding justice for farmers.
The team led by John Thomas, research officer of the department at Bengaluru, would visit the Keezhattoor village on May 3 and May 4. Officials from revenue and agriculture departments and officials of National Highway Authority would be part of the team.
Meanwhile the Vayalkkilikal, the action council formed by farmers against the land acquisition for the project has decided to wait for declaring the date for the long march it announced to Thiruvananthapuram, till after the visit of the team.
It is to be recalled that the issue had triggered off a controversy as the agitators announcing a Long March to Thiruvananthapuram in protest against the anti-farmer policy of the state government.
CPM which is struggling to bring back the comrades who left the party joining the Vayalkkilikal, the platform formed by the farmers, is worried about the support enjoyed by the protesters, despite the repeated intervention of CPM leadership against the issue.
Recently CPM Kannur district secretary P Jayarajan himself had visited the houses of farmers involved in the struggle in a futile attempt to bring them back to party fold.