Kerala - Alappuzha   

Left unions in agitation mode

ALAPPUZHA: Two major trade unions with proclaimed Left leanings are on a strike mode against the government in Alappuzha. While the CPI(M)-backed CITU district committee which met here on Friday has decided to conduct a protest march on January 21 towards the District Collectorate raising issues pertaining to fishermen earning their livelihoods from Vembanad Lake, the CPI-backed AITUC is already on the streets demanding protection of industries that are presently in doldrums.

The AITUC, which had conducted protest meetings earlier, organised a human chain here on Friday, demanding that the crisis in the coir sector be solved and that industries that were on the verge of closure be revived.

The AITUC, which also organised massive marches from the Kerala Spinners factory, Scooters Kerala Limited and the Kerala State Drugs and Pharmaceuticals (KSDP) on Friday, had said the agitation would only be intensified in the coming days. AITUC secretary and former MP T.J. Anjalose, CPI State Secretariat member T. Purushottaman and Cherthala MLA P. Thilothaman were among the CPI top brass who led the protests.

The government, these leaders said, would not be allowed to go ahead with its policy that was ‘against’ the beleaguered industrial sector here.

The CITU agitation is focused mainly on the closure of the Thanneermukkom barrage, an issue that has been smouldering between the district administration, mussel collectors, fishermen and paddy farmers in the trouble-prone Kuttanad region for quite some time now.

The 62 shutters of the barrage are closed from December 15 to March 15 every year to prevent the entry of saline water from the sea into Vembanad Lake and from there, into the paddy fields of Kuttanad. The entry of saline water, according to agriculture experts, will damage the paddy crops and with a majority of farmers preparing for sowing for the puncha crop, this could affect the fertility of the soul here as well.

However, mussel collectors and fishermen here are opposing closure of the shutters, arguing that saline water will enhance the mussel and fish species in the lake. Prevention of entry of saline water and making the lake water stagnant by closing the shutters could kill these and in turn, affect their livelihood.

The CITU is also demanding a welfare pension scheme for mussel collectors and fishermen. The march on January 21 will begin from the Thanneermukkom barrage and will be inaugurated by CITU State general secretary M.M. Lawrence.

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