Coimbatore: A group of villagers from Tamil Nadu, who have settled down at Parambikulam dam site in Kerala were lathi-charged by the neighbouring state policemen after they resorted to a roadblock on Sunday.
The protest by villagers comes after the Kerala Forest department refused permission to the Tamil Nadu PWD department to operate a school bus to ferry the children to a school at Vettaikaranpudur near Anamalai.
As the protesters refused to clear the way for the stranded tourist vehicles, the cops resorted to a mild lathi-charge to disperse the crowd. Around 50 villagers including a few women and four PWD staff took part in the protest.
Of them eight persons including three women suffered mild injuries and were undergoing treatment at the Pollachi GH.
The PWD sources said that they suspended the bus service after the neighbouring state refused permission. Also a group of PWD engineers from Tamil Nadu were on Saturday stopped by the Kerala forest personnel from entering the Parambikulam dam site to carry out their routine inspection.
The Tamil Nadu PWD officials were forced to wait for several hours before being sent back. This incident triggered a series of protests by political outfits in Pollachi.
The DMK cadres staged a protest in Pollachi blocking the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses for a short while, even as the police removed them from the scene. Similarly, around ten members of TPDK staged a protest in front of the Pollachi bus terminus. They were also removed from the spot.
