Death threats for quarry expose: CPM panchayat member calls it quits

KOLLAM: A controversy has erupted over a Facebook post of a CPM panchayat member in Pathanamthitta district in which he said he was calling off his public as well as party life due to the death threats he received for his attempts to stop illegal granite mining in the land of a party leader. The latter, however, denied the allegation, saying she was only leveling the land for soft wood cultivation. Chittar panchayat member Nithin Kishore said he has lodged a petition with the police after he received death threats for exposing the illegal mining in the ecologically fragile land owned by CPM block panchayat member Omana Sreedharan.

In one of the series of posts in which he published pictures of alleged quarrying, Mr Kishore apologised to the people for his decision to quit public life. “The pictures I have posted on the social media are of the illegal quarry in Chittar panchayat where I am also a member,” he said in a post. “Neither the panchayat nor the village has given permission for the quarry. I have submitted a complaint with the superintendent of police, tahsildar and the village officer. I have been receiving death threats since then,”   Mr Nithin said in a post.

Ms Sreedharan, however, denied the allegation. “We had rubber plantation on the said 3.5 acres of land for the last 25 years,” she told DC. “We are going for softwood plantation as rubber is no more remunerative. We had to level part of the plot for which we took boulders from the site. This was portrayed as mining.” Meanwhile, the CPM clarified that it received no communication from Mr Kishore regarding his resignation.

“The party has not yet convened a meeting to take a decision on the issue,” CPM Pathanamthitta district secretary K.P. Udayabhanu told DC. “We have received no resignation letter either. The district committee will discuss the matter.” Chittar panchayat has been classified as ‘ecologically fragile land’ as per the Kasturirangan report.  According to an order dated November 13, 2013, mining has been banned in the Chittar village.