It is very unfortunate that the Kerala government has not learned any lesson from the frequent floods that ravaged the state, noted environmental activist Medha Patkar said in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday.
Speaking at a protest meet against the CPM-led Kerala government's ambitious SilverLine semi high speed rail corridor project, Patkar said what the state needed was development not destruction.
“Vikasanam venam, vinasham venda,” she said in Malayalam.
“This has become an internal war. This is not Ukraine, this is Kerala. This is to save our country from the high speed development tragedy,” she said.
Patkar said the Kerala government was expected to renew its development paradigm after the floods and the devastation of the Western Ghats.
The protest meet was organised by the SilverLine Janakeeya Samara Samithi, a people's collective.
Patkar urged Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to visit the opposition UDF's MPs who were allegedly manhandled by the security personnel on the premises of the Parliament in the morning when they were staging a protest against the semi high speed rail project.
Different parts of the state witnessed protests against the project on Thursday also. Youth Congress activists took out a march to Kozhikode collectorate which turned violent. Police used water cannons to disperse the agitators.
Local people disrupted the survey procedures by K-Rail officials at Nattassery in Kottayam district for the third day. The protesters included municipal councillors, local people and political activists. Protest was staged at Kuzhiyalippadi at Sankranthi in Kottayam also.
Yuva Morcha breaches Cliff house security
Activists of the Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of the BJP, staged a protest in Thiruvananthapuram. The protesters breached the security at the Cliff House and planted survey poles on the compound of the chief minister's official residence. The police have started a probe into the lapses that led to the security breach.
