Council calls off quarry protests at Valakkavu

THRISSUR: The action council has called off their two-month-old protests against six quarries and three crushers at Valakkavu with the Kerala High Court directing tahsildar to hold a hearing for owners and cancel deeds if found violations. They obtained the Nov 21 order on Wednesday, and the court did not issue a stay on the district collector A. Kowsigan’s direction to Thrissur tahsildar to this effect as per Land Assignment Rules 8 (3) for illegally conducting quarrying on forestland.

“As an additional tahsildar had already held a hearing and submitted a report to the collector citing violations, the fresh initiative is only technical,” council leader Joby Kaipangal said. The Thrissur Tahsildar had been directed by the court to complete the procedure in two weeks and issue an order within another two weeks. They expect an order by December 9.

Writer-activist Sara Joseph, DCC president P. A. Madhavan, BJP district president A. Nagesh and others attended the meeting before the collectorate on Thursday. Meanwhile, some pro-Left unions have started a relay hunger strike there citing job losses. They alleged the protests aimed at raising the land value around them.