03-07-2025
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.
