Kerala - Thrissur   

Do some soul searching, Medha tells VS

Thrissur: Environmentalist Medha Patkar has said Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan should look into his inner self while approaching issues like construction of the proposed Athirappilly dam.

She was taking part in a meeting at Chalakudy on Friday as the campaign launched by the Chalakudy River Protection Forum and the Athirappilly Action Council against the Athirappilly project entered the 61st day.

She said Athirappilly and Pathrakkadavu should be declared special environment zones.

“Why should the government be committed only to special economic zones? Can it not start special environment zones? The Athirappilly stretch already has six dams. When the government thought about building another, they should have discussed the matter first with the Kadar tribe. The project should be implemented only if the grama sabha of the Kadar tribe approves of it. Environmental impact assessment and public hearing held for the Athirappilly project were an eyewash,” she alleged.

She expressed solidarity with the Kunthipuzha Puzha Samrakshana Samithy by receiving water brought from the Kunthipuzha on the Pathrakkadavu project site.

She handed over water from the Chalakudy river to the activists of the samithy.

Environmentalists C.R. Neelakantan, A. Mohan Kumar, Bharatiya Janata Party district president Sreesan Adiyattu, Janata Dal district committee member Sandor K. Thomas, Communist Party of India district committee member K. K. Shelly, St. Mary’s Forane Church Vicar Pious Chirapanath and G. Krishnan of the River Protection Forum were among those present on the occasion.

Later in the evening, she, along with activists of the Plachimada Solidarity Committee, visited select shops in Thrissur town and persuaded their owners to stop selling Coca-Cola.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Do some soul searching, Medha tells VS
Cozy in water, for 10 hours
Magisterial probe soon into temple incident

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu