KPCC vice-president V.T. Balram called upon the Kozhikode Corporation authorities to address the sentiments of local people at Avikkal and find an alternative location for the proposed Sewage Treatment Plant (STP).
Inaugurating the protest meeting of women near the STP site on Sunday, Mr. Balram flayed the authorities for labelling the people as terrorists. “It is not the culture of Kerala to label someone based on their attire. This is a practice followed by the Sangh Parivar,” he alleged, addressing over hundred women from the three wards surrounding Avikkal Thodu.
He added that however efficient an STP could be, there are certain norms for setting them up, the first of which being that it should not be in a thickly populated area.
He also questioned the logic of ‘filling a canal’ to set up an STP, when the State government is being vocal for maximum space for water bodies.
Earlier, MLA K.K. Rema said that the ruling party was trying to impose decisions on the people. “All the protests that were taken over by women have been successes. This will be no different,” she said.
Vellayil Councillor Soufiya Aneesh said the Corporation authorities, which did not pay heed to the pollution at Avikkal Thodu and the annual floods, have now cleaned up the canal in a 20-day drive, as an appeasing measure to sway the local people in favour of the project. The opposition leader at the Corporation K.C. Shobhita alleged that the civic body has set aside funds to develop drains under Atal Mission For Rejuvenation And Urban Transformation (AMRUT) only for wards ruled by LDF councillors.
