Dear friends,
We quote the report appeared in The Hindu on the Dharna organised in front of Collectorate, Trichur against Athirapiily Project, on 23.07.2008
Development not serving the common man’
Staff Reporter
Eco-concerns: Sukumar Azhikode and Sara Joseph, middle, take part in a dharna staged in front of the Thrissur Collectorate on Wednesday as an agitation by the Chalakudy River Protection Forum and the Athirappilly Action Council against the proposed Athirappilly hydel project entered the 150th day.
Thrissur: Writer and social activist Sukumar Azhikode has said that some of the development initiatives in the State do not serve the interests of the common man.
He was addressing a dharna staged in front of the Corporation office on Wednesday by the Chalakudy River Protection Forum and the Athirappilly Action Council against the proposed Athirappilly hydel project. The stir entered its 150th day on Wednesday.
“Ministers launch development programmes disregarding issues that affect the common man. They choose wrong advisors. Bureaucrats mislead people’s representatives. I see the language of an extremist in Electricity Minister A. K. Balan’s statement that the Athirappilly dam can be destroyed if it reduces even one drop of water. A Minister should not speak in this manner,” he said.
‘Destruction at source’
Writer Sara Joseph compared construction of the proposed Athirappilly dam to infanticide.
“The construction will destroy water at its source. The gap between decision-makers and people is getting wider. The Athirappilly project and the proposed Indo-U.S. nuclear deal show that development initiatives in the country are formulated from the perspective of the moneyed,” she said.
Dramatist Vayala Vasudevan Pillai, T. U. Radhakrishnan, former MLA,K. Rajan, B. Gopalakrishnan, Sandor K. Thomas and Sreedharan Therambil also spoke.
Murari for Chalakudyriver Protection Forum