Kannur: The election campaign may be catching up elsewhere, but the residents of Naduvil, a village in Kannur are firmly saying no to the campaign. Reason- bad roads.
They have declared that they would not allow any kind of election campaign in their village as a mark of protest against the authorities who have refused to ensure good roads.
They have put up flex boards in different places stating that no candidate should come seeking votes from their area. All the four major roads in the 9, 10, 11 and 12 wards of the Naduvil panchayat are in a dilapidated state. The local residents complain that no political party has shown interest in repairing the roads even though they have made repeated requests. Interestingly members from all the political parties in the area are participating in the boycott campaign. Commuting through roads is a nightmare for them.
"In cases of emergency, no drivers are ready to come to our village. There are frequent accidents on the road. Despite having made numerous complaints to the authorities, no action has been taken," Naduvil resident Vincent Muttathil told Onmanorama.
The Mandalam-Pullamvanam-Kaithalam Road, Cheruthenkallu-Ayyanmada Road, Kudumbakshema Upakendram-Pallikkunnu Road, and Cheruthenkallu-Pallikkunu Road are in a bad state. Residents of wards 9, 10, 11, and 12 have formed a public action committee to address their grievances. On February 26, the residents held a protest at the panchayat office to highlight their needs. The Mandalam-Pullavanam-Kaithalam road and Cheruthenkallu-Ayyanmada were built around 50 years ago and major repair works have not been done yet. These roads lead to popular tourist spots like Janakipara Waterfall and Ayyanmada Cave.
"During elections, candidates often make false promises and then fail to follow up. This is why we have made this decision during the election," Vincent Muttathil added.
We have been hearing these fake promises for many years. We no longer trust their words. If they provide a written promise from any authority, we will participate in the vote; otherwise, we will cast NOTA," said Julie Painadath", a resident and a school teacher.
The panchayat officials informed that they have allocated funds for two roads recently and the work will be done during the next financial year.
