Residents of Kakkathoppu block National Highway, seek removal of ship

Kollam: The residents of Kakkathoppu staged a road blockade  on Thursday demanding the immediate removal of the beached dredger Hansita from the shore. The blockade  stalled traffic along the National Highway in Kollam for  two hours. The protest ended after Mr M. Naushad MLA assured them to find a  solution in consultation with the RDO within a week.

As the protesters, including women and children, gathered at the Chinnakkada square, the traffic along the NH from Alappuzha side was diverted to the Ashramam link road, while that from  Thiruvananthapuram side was  diverted to the ROB junction to join the highway at the collectorate junction.

Mr. Naushad told mediapersons that the High Court had granted 41 days to the ship owners to remove the beached ship after hearing a plea submitted by the government seeking permission to take over the ship last week. The protesters under the Kakkathoppu Theeradesa Samrakshana Samiti alleged that the local residents had lost over ten houses due to the  tidal attack  caused by the ship’s presence.

The authorities have failed to tow the ship off the shore even 40 days after the ship was  beached. Technical issues have made the ship to anchor off-shore near Kollam port for the last three years as the ship authorities failed to pay the wharfage charges of over  '40 lakh. Hansita is a Chinese ship that was brought to Kollam port by the Indian company Megha shipping on March 26, 2013.