Locals oppose proposed 45-metre-wide National Highway bypass

The face-off between the police and local residents of Keezhattur agitating against the alignment of the proposed National Highway ended in the afternoon on Wednesday with the agitators being arrested.

The protesters had occupied the paddy fields from morning with threats of self-immolation to prevent the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) from planting alignment stones along the stretch of land identified for the 45-metre-wide bypass.

A tense situation prevailed in the area since 9 a.m. when residents, including women, led by Suresh Keezhattur and Nambradath Janaki entered the paddy fields marked for the final alignment of the bypass. They carried bottles filled with diesel, with some of them dousing their clothes with the liquid, threatening to immolate themselves if the NHAI officials entered the fields.

The face-off lasted for nearly five hours till the police arrested the protesters when they advanced towards the NHAI officials at 1.40 p.m. The police said that 49 activists of Vayalkilikal, the group spearheading the agitation against the bypass project, were arrested.

Tension prevailed in the area even after the arrest as the Vayalkilikal’s venue of the agitation at Keezhattur was set afire by alleged workers of the CPI(M), which is opposing the agitation. The Taliparamba police station area also witnessed some tension as workers of the BJP began a sit-in outside the station demanding the release of those arrested.

The anti-bypass agitation acquired political overtones as villagers, mostly CPI(M) workers and sympathisers, began the stir in defiance of the party leadership’s stand. The party had expelled nine workers for participating in the agitation by the Vayalkilikal. The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha and the BJP came forward to support the stir. The Vayalkilikal alleged that the bypass project would cause havoc to the environment in the village and destroy paddy fields.

The CPI(M) claimed that 56 of the total 60 residents of Keezhattur whose land was identified for acquisition had already given consent letters. The agitators dubbed the claim fake.

A large posse of police personnel were deployed in the area on Wednesday. Revenue Department officials said the alignment stone planting work followed the 3(A) notification issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for the acquisition of land for the development of the NH passing through the district as part of the NHAI’s project for road widening and bypass construction.