Tension prevailed throughout Friday in Vengara in Kerala’s Malappuram district with people trying to disrupt survey proceedings for acquisition of residential plots for National Highway expansion and police allegedly attacking protesters in their residential plots and using batons and stun grenades to quell the protests.
Several protesters, including women and children, suffered injuries in the incident at Valiyaparambu, Areethode in Vengara constituency as police resorted to lathi-charge to control the people in order to facilitate smooth survey proceedings. A ten-year-old girl had to be hospitalised after she collapsed on the ground amidst the police action.
Dozens of policemen in riot gears could be seen lathi-charging the residents in their residential plots. Residents said the police had attacked them even inside their homes.
It is amidst this police action that the girl collapsed on the ground, triggering loud cries and shouts of fear and rage from women and children.
The protestors tried to resist the police action by pelting stones at them. they also blocked the National Highway in protest.
Traffic along the Kozhikode-Thrissur National Highway was disrupted several times as protestors used burning tyres to block it prompting the police to burst several rounds of stun grenades to disperse the crowd.
“What is the Government thinkingIJ Do they want to kill us and raze our homes for constructing a roadIJ” asked Fathima, a resident, through tears and rage. “At least, they should be ready to listen to what we have to say. We will show them how this road can be built without demolishing even a single house. Also, the Government already has land for the purpose,” she added.
Trouble started at about 7.00 am Friday when officials escorted by hundreds of policemen entered residential plots for survey jobs connected with the land acquisition.
The police resorted to lathicharge when the people tried to block the officials from carrying out the survey, which had to be suspended many times following confrontations between people and police.
The tension eased and normalcy was restored in the area by about 3.00 pm after the authorities stopped the survey totally. As per reports, the Government will hold an all-party meeting on the issue on April 11 and the survey will not resume till a decision comes out of the meeting. It is also said that there will be an inquiry into Friday’s police action.
The developments in Vengara, coming close on the heels of intense protests by people who are standing to lose houses, shops and farmlands in connection with the NH expansion at Kottakkal and Kuttippuram in Malappuram district and Keezhattur in Kannur district, indicate that land acquisition for the purpose may not be smooth.
While the State’s CPI(M)-led lDF Government is accusing the protestors of being pawns in the hands of forces intent at undermining its development initiatives, the people living in the area identified for acquisition are alleging that the Government is being intransigent and arrogant and is firm on evicting them from their houses even when alternatives are available.
A minimum of 50 houses will have to be demolished if the widening of the National Highway has to be done as per the present alignment but the local people are complaining that the Government and the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) are firm about this plan when a more feasible alignment was available.
The Congress-led Opposition UDF demanded immediate suspension of the land acquisition proceedings but the Government, refusing to listen to the demand, said the issue in Vengara is not related to people but it was precipitated by people from outside Vengara who belonged to the anti-development lobbies.
“The Government should abandon its policy of implementing development projects using violence and police force. The survey should be suspended,” said Muslim league leader KNA Khader, MlA from Vengara. Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala of the Congress also raised the same demand.
However, State Public Works Minister G Sudhakaran of the CPI(M) said, “The troublemakers are not local people. They are outsiders. It is up to the police to identify and deal with the troublemakers.” The Government has adopted the same attitude towards the protests against land acquisition for NH expansion in Keezhattur, Kuttippuram and Kottakkal.