Villagers protest against proposed brewery unit plant in Kerala hamlet

Palakkad (Kerala): Local villagers, including elderly women and children, on Saturday staged a protest at Elappully hamlet in this northern district of Kerala accusing a private company of trying to start the construction works for a proposed brewery unit.

The protests, joined by the workers of Opposition Congress and BJP, began when the company deputed workers to clean up the project site by cutting down unnecessary trees and removing plants.

The protesters stopped the earthmover which was brought in for the clearing work and raised slogans against the proposed alcohol unit.

However, a company representative later clarified that they had no plans to commence the construction work at present and their only objective was to clean the area ahead of the contour survey.

A contour survey maps the elevation and shape of land by using contour lines, which connect points of equal height.

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

The Congress-led UDF had urged the Left government to withdraw the approval granted to the company, arguing that the project was unnecessary for the people of the state and would exacerbate drinking water scarcity in the area.

"We have already given in writing to the village officer that we won't do any construction work there as of now. We brought the earthmover for the cleaning work ahead of the contour survey," the company representative told reporters here.

He said the company wanted to mark the boundary of the project site clearly and bring in experts to launch a study for setting up rainwater harvesting facility there as part of the brewery plant project.

"Can we call the carrying out of study a construction work initiative?" he asked.

However, the protesters rejected the company's claim and said their real objective was to start construction work for the liquor plant.

"We won't allow any move to start the work for the brewery unit in our village. The government is giving all support to the liquor company for the project, violating all rules and norms in this regard," one of the protesters alleged.

A local woman expressed concern over the project and said the proposed plant would cause water scarcity in the area.

"We don't want anything which will cause flow of liquor here. Our primary objective is to protect our drinking water sources," the elderly woman added.