KOCHI: Giving a boost to all public movements in the state against the filling of paddyfields, the protest by residents of Erayamkudi, a village near Kodungallur, attained its goal. A group of land owners, who made an attempt to fill paddyfield, withdrew from their move.Led by T N Prathapan MLA, around 250 residents of Erayamkudi on Monday had broken a rubble wall which was constructed for filling the paddyfield. They also opened a canal, which was blocked by the real estate agents. The protest was organised Erayamkudi Janakeeya Samiti, an association of local residents. Prathapan termed it a great chapter in the history of public movements in Kerala.“The land owners have in written assured that they were withdrawing from the move for filling the land and they would remove the soil already deposited at the site. They have said in the letter that the soil deposited would be removed using earthmovers on Thursday in the presence of the MLA and local people, Prathapan said.“The protest attained its goal in just one day, that too without much intervention of the government, local body or bureaucrats,” Prathapan said.Earlier, the local people had filed a complaint with the Ernakulam District Collector alleging that the real estate mafia was blatantly violating the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2008. The Janakeeya Samiti demanded the authorities to initiate steps to revive the paddyfields, which have already been filled by the real estate agents.“If the land owners are not interested in farming, they could lease out the land to others who are interested in farming. If they could not find a lessee then they can seek the assistance of the government for it,” said Jayasree of the Erayamkudi Janakeeya Samiti.
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