Panchayat President in Palakkad opposes brewery unit

Palakkad, Kerala: The president of Elappully grama panchayat in this district, where the Kerala government has permitted setting up of a brewery, on Friday expressed displeasure over the plant coming there and said that its water requirements cannot be met from rainwater storage tanks.

Criticising Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's statements, in the assembly a day ago, defending the decision to permit the plant, Revathi Babu K -- the president of the Elappully grama panchayat -- said that what could be understood from the CM's statement was that ethanol and spirit were being brought at high cost from other states for liquor production here.

"What he needs to understand is that Kerala grows or produces only 20 per cent of its food requirement and the rest is brought from other states. So, why cannot agricultural production be given an impetus in the state?" she asked while speaking to a TV channel.

She also termed as "pure nonsense" the CM's remark that the brewery's water requirements will be met by the Kerala Water Authority and rainwater storage tanks.

"The unit will need crores of litres of water. If it does not get sufficient water, it will in one night dig a deep borewell and drain out the groundwater. Who will go there and block them at that time?" she asked.

The panchayat president said that irrespective of what the CM said, the people of the village were strongly opposed to the government's decision.

She said that discussions have been held with lawyers and "we are ready to approach the court as and when required".

The CM on Thursday had clarified in the assembly that the initial permission granted for the project falls under "ease of doing business" category and hence does not require consultation with the panchayat.

Referring to concerns that the brewery unit might impact drinking water availability in the region, Vijayan had assured that the government would not allow any situation that would lead to a water shortage.

"The company's daily water requirement will be met by the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) and rainwater storage tanks," he had said.

The state cabinet, last week, had approved the proposal by Oasis Commercial Pvt Ltd to set up the plant, subject to compliance with existing guidelines and conditions.

Right from the beginning the opposition was against setting up of the brewery plant the village, claiming that it will lead to drinking water scarcity there.

The opposition had also claimed that large-scale irregularities were involved in granting permission to Oasis to set up the brewery plant at Elappully village in Kanchikode, Palakkad district.

The brewery unit is expected to require at least five lakh litres of water per day, a demand which the water-scarce village like Elappully cannot afford, the opposition claimed.