UDF to present Avikkal Thodu issue in Assembly

Police stops protest march against Deputy Mayor

The United Democratic Front (UDF) will present an adjournment motion in the Legislative Assembly soon demanding the Kozhikode Corporation to withdraw the Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) project at Avikkal Thodu in the city. MLA M.K. Muneer met opposition leader V.D. Satheesan on Monday to speak on the topic, the ongoing protest and the police action against the protestors recently. Mr. Satheesan assured the MLA that the issue will be taken up in the Assembly. The UDF will demand the State government to consider the anxieties of the local people and find solutions before going ahead with the construction.

Mr. Muneer was accompanied by Kerala Students Union State President K.M. Abhijith, Muslim Youth League State Secretary T.P.M. Jishan and chairman of the anti-STP protest committee of Avikkal Thodu Dawood T.

Meanwhile, the local people at Avikkal Thodu, under the aegis of the protest committee, carried out a march to Vellayil where Deputy Mayor C.P. Musafir Ahamed was taking part in a public event. The Deputy Mayor’s recent comment at a press meet that extremist elements were working behind the protest at Avikkal Thodu did not sit well with the local people. However, the police blocked the protestors before they reached the destination. After a few heated arguments with the police, they returned to Puthiyakadavu, where the construction activities of the plant are going on, and continued their protest.

The representatives of UDF had met the District Collector on Sunday demanding a reprieve in construction, to which he assured them that there will be no construction for at least ten days. However, iron fencing was erected around the site recently and construction materials were brought, perplexing the protest committee.