Adoor: A move to demolish the almost a century-old ancestral house of renowned filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan was stopped following protests by CPM and CPI activists and local residents of Thuvayoor Vadakku, Manakkala, here in Pathanamthitta district.

Local committee secretaries of CPM and CPI, Aneesh Raj and Rajesh Manakkala, along with their followers and residents reached the house as soon as the demolition work started on Friday morning.

The work was stopped after the police intervened. Tiles of a part of the roof were removed before the protest gathered steam.

Adoor's sister and her family members had been living in the house. No one has been staying in the house after the death of Adoor's sister. Her children have moved elsewhere.

The demolition was taken up after Adoor's niece, who got the house from her mother, decided to sell it.

The nearby Manakkal Junction-Chittanimukku Road has been named as Adoor Gopalakrishnan Road.

The protesters demanded the Department of Culture to take over the house. P B Harshan and Babu John, president and secretary, respectively, of E V Krishna Pillai Memorial Committee, took up the issue with Minister Saji Cherian, who asked for a project report and it was submitted.

A conservation committee was also formed to safeguard the house.