Kannur: A group of CPM supporters protesting against a polluting seafood company in a 'party village' mounted a public defiance against the local leaders after they allegedly threatened an agitator.

The CPM supporters from the party bastion of Kankol-Alappadamba grama panchayat in Kannur district called a press conference and played the "threatening" phone call purportedly from West Alappadamba CPM local secretary T Vijayan.

"We had to call the press conference because we fear for our lives," said Joby Peter, convenor of the People's Protest Committee. Going public with the alleged threat from party leaders was the only protection they could afford, he said.

Kankol-Alappadamba grama panchayat is a party bastion with all 14 wards controlled by the CPM. CPM leaders call it 'party gramam' or 'Party village'.

A year and a half ago, Parayil Santhosh Kumar set up Sagarpearl Seafood Products Pvt Ltd at Kariyap in the panchayat. The company makes fish oil and fish powder, a raw material for fish and cattle feed.

"Our trouble started since then," said Joby (46), a rubber tapping worker. His house is 1.5km from the factory.

The wind carries the revolting stench from the factory beyond 3km, he said. Elderly people vomit, and children have developed skin allergies. We cannot have food or breathe, he said.

"Initially, I thought a fox or wild boar had died on my property," said Saji V K, an autorickshaw driver whose house is 150m from the factory.

He moved there one year ago from Thirumeni in Cherupuzha panchayat. "There is no board in front of the factory. So we did not know the foul smell was coming from there," he said.

His sister Mini P K (45) said she developed rashes all over her body. They burn incense sticks while having food.

"Since we launched our protest in December, the factory has not opened and the rashes on her body have subsided. She is healing," said Saji, chairman of the protest committee.

Joby said the factory used to run three days a week. "It will shut down when people protest. This has been going on till December," he said.

He said the factory sits 50m away from a stream that flows through Kariyap, Theyyottu Kavu, and Alappadamba and ends at Kavvayi backwaters. Joby alleged that the waste discharge from the factory was polluting the stream.

Panchayat president M V Sunil Kumar said the company resolved the issue long ago.

In September 2022, the health inspector and junior health inspector of the panchayat visited the factory site and agreed with the residents.

In the report to the panchayat secretary, the health inspector wrote that he was personally convinced about the stench originating from the factory and how it was causing health hazards to the people. The report, dated September 14, recommended immediate action against the factory.

But the Pollution Control Board gave two reports favouring the company to the panchayat secretary. The panchayat secretary had returned the first one to the board.

Panchayat president Sunil Kumar said it can happen because the stench was carried out sporadically. "People complain of the spell once every three or four days. Sometimes, it can be up to 10 days," he said.

However, the protest got the goat of the CPM local leaders when a neighbourhood media reported that Payyannur MLA T I Madhusoodanan backed off from a planned visit of houses at Kariyap fearing the protestors on January 3.

Joby Peter, as convenor of the protest committee, posted the news report on their WhatsApp group. To be sure, almost all the members of the protest group are CPM supporters and members. Joby was the founding member of CPM's Kariyap branch unit.

This did not go down well with the local leadership of the party and Alappadambu West Local Secretary

T Vijayan called Joby and asked him to delete the post.

Vijayan said the MLA had called off the visit to Kariyap because he had a funeral to attend and the change of plan was communicated to the branch secretary.

Joby said he removed the post. "But when I called Vijayan to tell him I deleted the post, he threatened me. He said there is no compromise for defaming the MLA. He also told me that the party knows how much land I owed and how much of that is without documentation," he said.

In a video defending the local secretary, West Local Committee member P V Balan said Kariyap had only around 10 families up to 1998. Now around 60 families, which did not even have a hut, have settled there. "The CPM gives protection to those families," he said.

In the same video, local secretary Vijayan said he had only asked Joby Peter not to spread fake news.

Panchayat president Sunil Kumar, who also appeared in the video, said outsiders were behind the protest and a few were drawn towards the protest. He said the party would conduct an awareness campaign in Kariyap.

When contacted, Sunil Kumar said the company was under maintenance and some disgruntled people were trying to fish in troubled waters.

He said the panchayat always stood with the people and had served notice to Sagarpearl Seafood Products Pvt. Ltd to sort out the problem of stench. "We will allow the company to reopen only in the presence of officials from the panchayat and the Pollution Control Board," he said.

'Will rectify the problem and reopen the unit'

Sagarpearl Seafood Products Pvt. Ltd said it has contracted Kozhikode-based Elixir Enviro Systems, an odour treatment company, to rectify the problems. "We are investing another Rs 45 lakh to solve the problem of stench," said Shibin M, an official of Sagarpearl.

He said the company would be ready to reopen by the end of the month.

Abu Dhabi-based Vinod Kumar Parayil and Vimala Mavilachalil invested around Rs 10 crore to set up the company. "Half of that is loans borrowed from banks," said Shibin.

He said the company, with 15 workers, can process 100 tonnes of fish every day. "But now we work only two or three days a week," he said.

The company makes fish oil and fish powder, used for making fish feed and animal feed.

"There is no hazardous waste from the factory. It is a zero waste unit," he said.

He said the only wastewater the unit produced was when it washed the fish boxes and the trucks. "The water is treated and used again," he said. He said the protestors were lying when they said wastewater was channelled to the stream.

He said the factory produced bad odour only at one stage. "We have to boil the fish before it is squeeze-dried to make fish oil and powder. During the boiling stage, the bad odour escapes the unit because we had a faulty biofilter," he said.

He said the biofilter was being fixed and the machinery boxed into a cabin to prevent the smell from escaping.

Shibin said there were around 10 fish oil and fish powder-making units in Kerala. There is one at Taliparamba and another at Kakkadampoyil, a tourist village in Kozhikode. "Several of the companies had a faulty start. The unit in Kakkadampoyil was fixed by Elixir," he said.

Panchayat president Sunil Kumar said neither the people nor the panchayat were against the company. "We want the company to resolve the problem and restart it," he said.