UDF to lead Collectorate march against airport CER fund diversion
The United Democratic Front (UDF) will lead the protest, alleging that the CER funds were diverted to a senior citizen model village at Dharmadom in Kannur district, instead of being used for the originally proposed projects in Kondotty municipality and Pallikkal grama panchayat.
The Karipur airport's overflowing rainwater has been endangering homes and drinking water sources in the nearby areas. To tackle this problem, the Minor Irrigation department had proposed a ₹3.5 crore project to build a stormwater drainage system at Ayanikad, which would channel the water into the Cherla stream.
A ₹1.27-crore project was also proposed for infrastructure development at GMLP School, Karipur. Both projects had received the District Collector's approval. However, the CER funds were redirected to a project in Dharmadom, bypassing the local initiatives.
Out of the airport's ₹10 crore CER fund, ₹9 crore has been allocated to a model village for senior citizens in Dharmadom, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's constituency. Local body officials from Pallikkal and Kondotty argue that this decision violates the CER guidelines, which mandate that 80% of funds be spent on environmental projects within 25 km of the airport.
Dharmadom is 106 km away from Karipur. This distance has fuelled suspicions of political favouritism behind the allocation of ₹9 crore from the airport's CER fund. 'We urge the authorities to reverse this unjust decision and allocate the CER fund to eco-friendly projects that benefit local communities affected by the airport's issues,' said Kondotty municipal councillor P.K. Firos.
Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) MLAs T.V. Ibrahim and P. Abdul Hameed, and District Congress Committee president V.S. Joy will address the protest march on Saturday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
17 hours ago
- The Hindu
Governor's sanction required to take cognisance against CM: court
The prosecution sanction from the Governor is required for a court to take cognisance against the Chief Minister in an alleged offence of abetment, the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Ernakulam, has said. The court made the observation while considering a petition filed by Muhammad Shiyas, president of the Ernakulam District Congress Committee, seeking the registration of a case against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for abetment of violence. The judge noted that the complainant must obtain prosecution sanction from the Governor for the court to take cognisance of the alleged offence. In his complaint, Mr. Shiyas alleged that the Chief Minister abetted DFYI activists in unleashing violence against Congress and Youth Congress workers during the 'Navakerala Sadas' undertaken by the State Cabinet, which covered all 140 Assembly constituencies in the State. He pointed out that the Chief Minister had claimed the DFYI activists were carrying out a 'rescue mission' by removing Youth Congress workers protesting in front of the bus carrying him and his Cabinet colleagues. The statement of Mr. Vijayan amounted to abetment, he alleged. The court posted the case for November 1.
The Hindu
18 hours ago
- The Hindu
Governor's sanction required to prosecute CM in connection with Navakerala Sadas violence: court
A Kerala court on Thursday said sanction for prosecution from the Governor was required to register a case against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in connection with a conflict that occurred during the Navakerala Sadas, the State government's outreach programme. The court of Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate also observed that the Governor's sanction was required for prosecuting people's representatives. The observation came on a plea by Ernakulam District Congress Committee president Muhammed Shiyas seeking registering of a case against Mr. Vijayan in connection with the various instances of violence during the outreach programme in 2023. The court is scheduled to take up the matter next on November 1. Kerala Students Union and Youth Congress workers were allegedly assaulted by activists of the CPI(M)'s Democratic Youth Federation of India and the security personnel of the Chief Minister at various places across the State for showing black flags to Mr. Vijayan during the programme.
The Hindu
a day ago
- The Hindu
UDF to lead Collectorate march against airport CER fund diversion
Residents from panchayats near Calicut International Airport, Karipur, will take out a march to the Collectorate here on Saturday (July 5) to protest against the alleged misuse of the airport's Corporate Environmental Responsibility (CER) funds. The United Democratic Front (UDF) will lead the protest, alleging that the CER funds were diverted to a senior citizen model village at Dharmadom in Kannur district, instead of being used for the originally proposed projects in Kondotty municipality and Pallikkal grama panchayat. The Karipur airport's overflowing rainwater has been endangering homes and drinking water sources in the nearby areas. To tackle this problem, the Minor Irrigation department had proposed a ₹3.5 crore project to build a stormwater drainage system at Ayanikad, which would channel the water into the Cherla stream. A ₹1.27-crore project was also proposed for infrastructure development at GMLP School, Karipur. Both projects had received the District Collector's approval. However, the CER funds were redirected to a project in Dharmadom, bypassing the local initiatives. Out of the airport's ₹10 crore CER fund, ₹9 crore has been allocated to a model village for senior citizens in Dharmadom, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's constituency. Local body officials from Pallikkal and Kondotty argue that this decision violates the CER guidelines, which mandate that 80% of funds be spent on environmental projects within 25 km of the airport. Dharmadom is 106 km away from Karipur. This distance has fuelled suspicions of political favouritism behind the allocation of ₹9 crore from the airport's CER fund. 'We urge the authorities to reverse this unjust decision and allocate the CER fund to eco-friendly projects that benefit local communities affected by the airport's issues,' said Kondotty municipal councillor P.K. Firos. Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) MLAs T.V. Ibrahim and P. Abdul Hameed, and District Congress Committee president V.S. Joy will address the protest march on Saturday.
