People of Nettoor take to the street for bridge, better roads and against drugs

KOCHI: It was a day of protest for residents of Nettoor which is part of Maradu municipality having the highest tax revenue among municipalities in the state. They told a tale of neglect by the civic body. The residents held a fast near the Maradu municipal office to draw the attention of municipal authorities to their pressing needs, at the core of which was development. The fast was led by the Avani Men’s Self-Help Group of Nettoor and its workers were joined by the members of Kudumbasree, some of the municipal councilors, members of residents associations and members of other socio-cultural organizations.

The issues raised by them included patch work of PWD roads in the area, resuming the Priyadarshini boat service between Nettoor mainland and Thevara ferry, enforcing flex and plastic ban, starting a plastic shredding unit, completing construction of the rail overbridge and Nettoor-Kundannoor parallel bridge, eviction of encroachments on roads, action against the drug mafia which is influencing children, among others. Municipal authorities led by the chairperson Divya Anilkumar and vice-chairman initiated discussions with the agitators and it was agreed to do the patch work on the roads by including it in the petty works of the chairperson.

It was assured that the boat service would begin from April and the tender for the plastic shredding unit would be floated by March 30. Road development by evicting encroachments would be brought before the council. It was agreed that all other issues would be resolved by convening a meeting with the MP and MLA. The police would be alerted on the operations of the drug mafia. Councillor Devoos Antony gave lime juice to the protestors to end the fast in the evening.