Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP) activists on Thursday staged a protest march to the Secretariat against the reported move of the government to legalise all conversion of wetlands and paddy fields reclaimed till 2005.
The association demanded the government desist from the move and also to immediately publish the data bank of paddy fields and wetlands which were prepared by local bodies.
Social activist and environmentalist R V G Menon, who inaugurated the agitation in front of the Secretariat, said that the move to legalise all conversion of paddy fields and wetlands would adversely affect the environment of the state.
Stating that the government had hidden the facts related to the legalising of the paddy fields and wetlands, he said that the government should come forward to protect the remaining paddy fields and wetlands.
The KSSP alleged that the Chief Minister’s office, which had always claimed of transparency, had hid the decision only to help the land mafia and real estate owners.
It was a paradox that the government had taken such a decision at a time when it was planning for a new law to protect paddy fields.
As per the records of the Agriculture Department, there was only 2.5 lakh hectares of land left, which shows that the state was heading towards a dangerous situation.
The parishad said that the government’s decisions would only lead to a further decrease in the area of paddy fields and wetlands.
KSSP state committee member V Harilal, R Ajayan, district president K Vijayakumar, secretary B Ramesh were those addressed the agitators.