SOUTH
If he triggered a laugh riot on social media by calling legendary boxer Muhammad Ali a Kerala sports person, Minister EP Jayarajan has kicked off a fiery debate by declaring that a mangrove park at Kannur that was closed down years back after a High Court verdict would be re-opened.
Also read: Kerala Minister's blooper: Calls Muhammad Ali a Keralite
The Mangrove Park at Pappinissery in Kannur had been the centre of a heated political debate in 2010 after environmentalists and civic society organisations cried foul over the destruction of mangroves in the park owned by a society controlled by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM). The park came up in the stronghold of the CPM had kicked up a political controversy as well when the Congress picked it up. The then United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre also took a firm stand against the project.
There was a statewide condemnation of a brutal attack, allegedly perpetrated by the CPM, on environmental activists who protested against the park.
In a huge set back for the CPM, the park had to be closed down after a High Court verdict against it within seven months.
Speaking at a public meeting organised by the youth wing of the CPM, Jayarajan, the Sports and Industries Minister of Kerala, stated the other day that the mangrove park will be revived soon.
The tourism society under the control of the CPM has obtained a favourable order from the Supreme Court to keep the land and to 'protect' the mangroves. But it has no authority to carry on construction on the site. It is learned that the CPM is planning to seek legal recourse to obtain necessary orders to that end.
The move to revive the park project, just after the CPM-led government returned to power, has raised many eyebrows. The new controversy closely follows a heated debate kicked off by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Power Minister Kadakampally Surendran by supporting the Athirappilly Hydel project.
Also read: Climate change is real, but that doesn't absolve our crimes: Madhav Gadgil
The greens argue that the proposed hydel project will inundate hundreds of acres of pristine forests of Western Ghats and will affect Kadars, a primitive hunter-gatherer tribe that inhabit the forests upstream. The expert committee on the Western Ghats, headed by Dr. Madhav Gadgil had opposed the project in its final report.
Also read: Jairam Ramesh flays government move to implement Athirappally project