October 24 hartal: CPM stands firm as Ranni MLA slams LDF

PATHANAMTHITTA: CPM Pathanamthitta district secretary Raju Abraham has said that the hartal announced for October 24 over the notification on ecologically sensitive areas will go ahead as planned. He said not a single one of the seven villages in Pathanamthitta district included in the notification had been excluded, adding that the hartal was being held in protest.

“Does Ranni MLA Pazhakulam Madhu expect people to leave their own land empty-handed? I do not know why he is opposing the hartal,” Raju Abraham said.

Meanwhile, Pazhakulam Madhu strongly criticised the LDF’s call for a hartal. He alleged that the hartal had been called against the report submitted by the government itself and accused the organisers of misleading the public.

“The Left Front has not even been willing to move an adjournment motion in the Assembly on the issue. No other district in Kerala has called a hartal of this kind,” Madhu said.

Meanwhile, the CPM’s hartal in Idukki district over ecologically sensitive areas and land-related issues was complete. Hartal supporters blocked vehicles at several places.

The demands included identifying what the protesters described as a covert move to convert the Cardamom Hill Reserve (CHR) area into forest land and abandoning plans to create elephant corridors.

The CPM’s main allegation is that the cadastral maps of areas designated as ecologically sensitive lack clarity.