Spiralling fuel price finds an unlikely beneficiary
The Hindu
Every hike triggers demand for Soman’s bullock cart among politicians protesting against it
K.K. Soman, a sexagenarian from Valipadam in Koothattukulam, does not mind a fuel price surge. For, every hike in price increases the demand for his two bullocks and a cart drawn by them to protest against it. And for politicians, they offer the ideal optics for better media coverage. So, it proved the case on Monday when the District Congress Committee (DCC) organised a bullock cart protest against fuel price surging past the century-mark. The two bullocks and the cart were transported to the city on a vehicle with a five-member team to manage them.
At PV Cherian Crescent Road, which derives its quietude in no small measure from the trees lining it, the axe struck twice last week, the first time on December 7, reducing one massive tree to a stump. According to a resident who wants to stay anonymous, when the workers were questioned about it, pat came the reply that the Corporation had ordered the hand that wielded the axe. With that explanation, residents who were disturbed by the cutting of the tree assumed there should be a justification for the act and let the matter rest. On December 12, the axe struck again, the Avenue’s arboreal wealth down by one more tree.
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