KOCHI: Residents of Parakadavu, a panchayat in Ernakulam located on the district’s border with Thrissur, woke up on Friday to the sight of wreaths placed on stones that had been laid by K-Rail a day earlier as markers for the proposed SilverLine project. The stones that had been dug up were seen placed with the wreaths in front of two churches and the bus stop at Triveni Junction at Parakadavu in Angamaly.
While residents suspect that the action council members, who have been protesting against the land acquisition for the semi high-speed rail corridor, are behind the deed, the members have denied their involvement.“We have no idea who did it. Everyone is upset with the project and so, it could have been done by anyone, some residents of the panchayat or one of the many local protest groups,” said a member of the action council. The action council, however, did dig out 15 stones laid in paddy fields at Puliyanam on Friday.
“K-Rail officials installed the stones on Thursday and were planning to place more in other areas marked in the survey on Friday. However, they didn’t show up. Anticipating their arrival, we organised a huge protest march in which a large number of residents participated,” said the action council member. He said the officials were able to lay the stones on Thursday as they came unexpectedly due to which not many protesters could gather to oppose them.
“The protesters were removed with the help of 50 police personnel. The officials installed the stones in the paddy fields and were planning to work their way from there. Perhaps, they started from there as the panchayat is densely-populated and they would have faced intense protests,” said the member. He said the project will swallow more than 50 houses and nearly three acres of paddy fields. “The action council plans to continue the protests and will keep digging up the K-Rail stones,” he said.