With the Metran Kayal controversy, which was lying dormant for more than five years, back in limelight in the run-up to elections, activists, and Left parties have declared their separate struggles.
The Metran Kayal Samrakshana Prakshobha Samithi, the agency which has been spearheading the struggle against the project for the past many years, has declared the launching of a struggle from March 10. On the first day, they will organise an evening dharna at the gates of the Kottayam District Collectorate. According to samithi leaders, the project envisages reclamation of the 378-acre polder on the side of the Inland Water Highway into a tourism destination.
They said the covert attempt to upset the Land Reforms Act commenced in 2006-2007 when nearly a 100 brokers acted as middlemen to register 19 separate companies to acquire land. Originally submitted as Kumarakom Tourism Village Project, it was rejected by the then Left Democratic Front government. However, it was renamed as Kumarakom Village Eco Tourism Project.
Kumarakom grama panchayat, five of the departments and later the Legislature subcommittee on Ecology had rejected the project.
On February 4, a farmer from the area had obtained a High Court directive that the polder should not be used for anything other than paddy cultivation. The area had been marked as paddy field in the Kumarakom Grama Panchayat Data Bank.
The samithi leaders said in such a backdrop, the report of the District Collector that the areas was lying fallow for the past 10 years and hence not suitable for paddy cultivation should be reviewed, they said.
They asked the government to rescind the order giving sanction for the tourism project in the area. “If they fail we will launch a people’s struggle but also seek legal recourse to the issue,” said Deepak Dayanand, convener of the samithi. The All India Youth Federation (AIYF) launched their struggle by hoisting the flag in the Kayal.
The CPI(M) too has cautioned of agitation.
