Protesters breached a police cordon to tie a red cloth on the gate of the forest office at Plachery, near Manimala.Kottayam: In an extraordinary symbolic protest, hundreds of villagers tied a red tape on the gates of the forest office at Ponthenpuzha to question alleged government apathy that left 7,000 acres of forest in the hands of private parties.
The forest office at Plachery, near Manimala, in the district witnessed dramatic moments as the protesters breached a police cordon to tie a red cloth on the gate, amid emotionally charged sloganeering. The protesters, who dwell around the Ponthenpuzha-Valiyakavu forest, have been on a protest for 25 days seeking a legislation to notify the forest as reserved and unconditional title deed for the property they hold. The villagers assembled under the banner of the Ponthenpuzha-Valiyakavu forest protection council.
"The council chose to stage the red tape protest on World Environment Day (June 5) to expose the 'double standards' of the forest department which plants saplings across the state but lets acres of forest land go to the land mafia," said Santhosh Perumpetty, convener of the council.
The protesters, mostly farmers and daily wages worker, opened a battlefront after a Kerala High Court order of January 10 said the forest belonged to 200-odd people. The litigation over the ownership of the land had been on in various courts for nearly a century.
Suresh Keezhattoor, who headed the Vayalkilikal protest in Kannur against the acquisition of paddy fields for constructing a bypass, inaugurated the protest on Tuesday.The present order poses a threat to 1,200 families as their deed-less property also is covered by the HC verdict. The protesters' council says the government conceded defeat in the case to protect the interests of the land mafia, who claimed ownership of the forest using forged documents.
"Though the government has filed a review petition in the high court, it doesn't mention the concerns of the 1,200 families who have been living here for four to five generations," Santhosh said.
It was alleged that 7,000 acres of forest had landed in the hands of private parties.James Kannimala, joint convener of the council, said they would expand the protest to the state assembly if the government does not look into their demands. Suresh Keezhattoor, who headed the Vayalkilikal protest in Kannur district against the acquisition of paddy fields for constructing a bypass, inaugurated the protest on Tuesday.
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