KOZHIKODE: Amid uneasy calm the Gas Authority of India Ltd’s pipe-laying work is in full swing at Eranjimavu near Mukkam, near here, which had witnessed violent protests against GAIL and resultant brutal police action to quell the agitation. A 200-member- strong police team is guarding the work sites where digging of canals, laying pipes and welding work are going on apace. Thirteen action council members are still in prison, slapped with cases, including sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide). Tough police action has deterred many activists from venturing out and stage protests. Gross mishandling and thoughtlessness in dealing with the public while laying a utility trunk line through dense inhabitation have spawned trouble.
Villagers can’t believe that a group representing GAIL bulldozed their small holdings, with no prior information. There were Revenue officials, either, to seek clarification. GAIL claims to have sent sent intimation cards to enlisted landowners but in many cases they had gone to wrong addresses. The absence of a State mechanism to identify the land and educate the public helped extremist elements exploit people’s fears over the project safety. Confusion and shifting stances among mainstream political parties, especially the CPM, made the situation worse. Grassroots CPM workers turned a blind eye to protests as they themselves were hopelessly confused by the party’s strong opposition to the project when the party was in the opposition and full support to the execution of the project once back in power.
CPM leader George M Thomas, MLA, gropes for answers as he himself had been in the forefront of the anti-GAIL agitation. UDF workers, who now empathize with agitators, are also under fire because the project was introduced during UDF ministry. Such troubled waters presented the fringe parties like Popular Front of India and Welfare Party an opportunity to butt in and expand their base. Kodiyathur panchayat president CTC Abdulla (CPM) said the attempt by a section to communalize the anti-GAIL stir lies at the crux of the problem. Such elements preferred to covert the agitation venue into a platform to offer namaz on the road and even in front of the police station, he said. The ground is fertile because o many mosques are located in the stir zone.
“They wanted to brand the project as an attack on Muslims and unleashed a vicious propaganda, alienating mainstream political parties and communities from the agitation”, he added. Mr Abdulla and many of his comrades are of the opinion that there should have been more transparency in the execution of the project. However, police sources revealed that if the mob was not dispersed by twilight on the day of violence, things would have gone out of control. The mob kept swelling and by evening there were almost a thousand people outside the police station at Mukkam, a police official said. “The mob pelting stones at the police with faces covered and the burning of timber and tyre to block traffic remind us of scenes in Kashmir valley”, he added.
However there is a widespread feeling among victims that the agitation, though turned violent, has resulted in speedy sorting out of grievances raised by landholders. “Now the response is quick from GAIL authorities when somebody raises a question or points out a need”, says Mr Babu Pulikkunnel, a native of Mukkam. The action council still insists on fixing the compensation on the basis of market value rather than fair value, which is very low. “Even the market value in these parts is much less and GAIL is providing compensation only for the few cents of land they are using”, Mr Babu said. There would be no buyers for the land in the vicinity of project which would further bring down the cost of land. GAIL authorities have adopted a lenient view and asked field staff to settle complaints on the spot. “Even for a tiny plantain, we provide compensation for a mature one”, said an official. GAIL project chief manager (construction) M Viju told DC that his team would ensure adequate compensation to all deserving landowners. “So far we have distributed around Rs 4. 5 crore in compensation”, he added.
Lost faith in system, state, say victims
Many families DC met at Eranjimavu are yet to come to terms- someone comes with police escort, takes over their land and destroys crops. “I have lost faith in the state“, said O Unnikrishnan, a native of Kulangara in Kodiyathur village. “I was very much proud of my state and the way it upheld human values. Being physically challenged and cashless, I am unable to fight them legally or physically. But this incident opened my eyes. We are just helpless as any other people who live in underdeveloped states”, he fumed in protest.
“A few months ago somebody came to my land and marked on the coconut trees on some pretext. Then one morning some Gujarat registration vehicles pulled up and a group of Hindiwallahs started surveying, ground marking and marking plants, trees. “They said they were from GAIL but no notices had been issued. Not even a village officer or attendant was present. Is this not jungle raj?” asked Unnikrishnan. “Let GAIL take over the entire land instead of just the ‘user right’. For projects like Metro, national highway and airport they give compensation many times higher than market value. Let them take over the land giving us due compensation”, he added.
Odangal Karthiyaniyamma shares her sorrows with action council member Babu Pulikunnath
Mr Unnikrishnan said setting up a district administration helpdesk after destroying everything is a joke. “We will be getting a paltry sum as compensation because the benchmark fair value in these villages is meagre”, he pointed out.Odangal Karthiyaniyamma, a native of the same village, laments about her failure to get her 66 cents land partitioned among her eight children. “I have lost about 15 cents but will not be eligible for compensation for those with less than 10 cents as I am yet to legalise the partition for my eight children”, she added.
Police forms karma sena to alleviate victims’ fears
Concerned by the simmering tension in Mukkam after the suppression of anti-GAIL agitation, ADGP (north zone) Rajesh Dewan has launched a task force with 40 policemen to interact with victims and to help the deserving to get due compensation.The Police department has a feeling that the Revenue department failed to rise to the occasion and address fears of the public regarding the project.
Divided into five-member groups, each team will visit houses in the region and collect details of families and the extent of their losses. An elaborate workshop was held here in which Mr Dewan himself led sessions. The team would remove apprehensions/misapprehensions and brief families on benefits of the PNG project.
