Kannur: In a significant development the central government has decided to stop all works on the national highway expansion project at Keezhattur in Kannur district. Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday instructed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to freeze all the works related to the controversial bypass which had riled locals as well as green activists as the proposed bypass is likely to cut through a swathe of paddy fields.
The NHAI officials are expected to meet the leaders of the agitating farmers, who have gathered under the banner Vayalkilikal (paddy birds), in New Delhi. The information was passed on to the agitating farmers by BJP leaders here.
The union minster also announced that the Centre would consider the recommendations from the expert panel constituted by the environmental ministry to realign the road. The move comes as Vayalkilikal was considering moving the High Court against the proposed bypass alignment. The owners of the farmlands, which could be taken up for the bypass, were planning to file an appeal in the court against the move.
An appeal filed by the same group against the bypass is already under the consideration of the court. Neglecting the expert report, NHAI had issued a proposal to go ahead with the road through Keezhattur area.
Keezhattur, a village near Kannur’s Taliparamba, shot into the limelight as the local CPM workers started a protest in 2016 against the bypass to be built over paddy field. With changing political equations, the protest for land and resources was soon tagged one of anti-development rhetoric.
The UDF, which got a golden opportunity against the CPM in Kannur, is favour of the protest. The BJP has also joined the bandwagon. On March 25, several activists arrived in Keezhattur to lend support to the cause.
The CPM strategy
The ruling CPM took on the protesters by deploying a two-pronged strategy. It carried out door-to-door awareness drives and relied on posters and notices to explain its stance.
The flags of All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), the CPM farmers' wing, flutter on one side of the paddy field, where measurements had been marked for constructing the bypass. Under each flag is a board which proclaims that the owner of the land is willing to give up his land for development.
Apart from this, there are notices all over the place between Taliparamba and Keezhattur and several other areas exhorting people to come together for the development of the region. As if this wasn't enough, the CPM has allegedly adopted the path of inducements and threats to arm-twist local residents.
Supporters have been threatened with suspension of basic government support like pensions and incentives. Several more have been warned they will lose their jobs in the government cooperatives. They topped it up with job promises to the youth in party-controlled establishments too.
The veiled and open threats worked -- several of the supporters withdrew. Several more were added to the list of dissenters when they were offered Rs 4 lakh per cent for the land being acquired.
"Everybody won't fall in their trap. We will go ahead with others," said Vayalkili worker Kamalakshi.
In September 2016, a wreath and a threat letter were placed in front of the house of CPM workers P Shankaran Nambiar and wife T C Janaki. The letter bore a threat against supporting the bypass through Keezhattur. One letter was kept along with the wreath and the other was pasted on the wall.The local leadership of the CPM landed at the spot and the area secretary P Mukundan then said that the party will investigate the incident which they blamed on 'anti-socials'.
