STP issue sparks another brawl at Kozhikode Corporation board meeting

The clash between police and local residents on the Pallikandy-Azheekal road in the city recently over the sewage treatment plant (STP) project in the area was the hot topic of discussion during the meeting of the board of Kozhikode Corporation on Saturday.

Early on, Mayor Beena Philip refused permission at the request of Councilor SK Aboobakker to move a motion to adjourn on the alleged ‘police atrocity’ in Pallikandy on April 27. The mayor stressed that there was no atrocity and that the women were not beaten. as the counselor had alleged, and also that only those who interfered with the work of the company were arrested and expelled from the STP site. Moments later, she cleared a motion to adjourn from Councilor MC Anil Kumar on a related matter, but accusing the opposition of making false propaganda. However, UDF councilors welcomed the motion on the grounds that it gave them an opportunity to discuss the subject.

Mr. Anil Kumar said that the two proposed STPs in Kothi and Avikkal had all the necessary permissions and all petitions filed against them by the local protest committee had fallen flat. He clarified that the Kothi site (Pallikkandy) was a fiscal “poramboke” and not an encroachment on the river as claimed by the protest committee and UDF advisers. He also dismissed the contempt of court argument, saying the company had only carried out preliminary work on the site as authorized by the High Court.

Mr. Anil Kumar also vehemently criticized the UDF for allowing the defamation of the deputy mayor and for unnecessarily organizing a march to his home.

IUML councilor K. Moideen Koya alleged that the STP projects were not discussed or adopted by the council. He criticized the company for unleashing the police on people resting after their morning meals during Ramadan. He said the company was offensive instead of trying to fix the problem.

Later, Councilors V. Prasanna and PN Ajitha brought to the council’s attention that their wards were clogged due to the accumulation of silt and rubbish in a channel that runs through four wards. The mayor, whose ward is one of them, said the matter would be brought to the attention of the National Highways Authority of India as the NH widening works had caused the blockage .

BJP Councilor Anuradha Thayat demanded that the company take steps to rehabilitate vendors under the upper deck of the CH, which is soon to undergo refurbishment. However, the mayor said the company had no provision to do so. However, the work could be completed in two or three months and suppliers should cooperate, she added.