When the rest of the State will be feasting on a sumptuous ‘Sadya’, 30-odd families of Ayyankuzhi in Ambalamugal will go on a hunger strike on Thiruvonam on Friday (September 5) to draw attention to their ‘perilous state’.
They were shifted to a lodge in Chottanikkara following a fire breakout in the KSEB’s underground electric cables passing through the BPCL-Kochi Refineries campus in their immediate neighbourhood on July 8. They will shun Onasadya and sit in protest, holding placards in front of the lodge, though the lodge owner has been asking them to vacate ever since BPCL-Kochi Refineries backed out of its commitment to meet the food and accommodation expenses of the families with effect from August 26. They have been cooking on the premises of the lodge ever since, in the face of stiff opposition from the lodge owner.
The families also staged a march through Chottanikkara on the eve of Thiruvonam. “The district administration, which moved us to the lodge, has expressed helplessness, while the local MLA has shifted the onus onto the Central government. But isn’t the State government responsible for upholding the safety and security of our lives and properties?” asked Saji Kumar, convener of the Ayyankuzhi Janakeeya Samithi.
“We have been facing immense hardships away from our home for nearly two months now,” said a pregnant woman with a toddler, on condition of anonymity. Another aged woman said that while the lodge owner might be within his rights in asking them to vacate, he should realise that they cannot shift without a written demand to that effect by the authorities who moved them there.
The families had declined to return to their homes, citing multiple reports by the Pollution Control Board notifying their area as unfit for living. Instead, they have been insisting that their nearly 10 acres be acquired by BPCL-Kochi Refineries, which has consistently turned down that demand.
Published – September 04, 2025 08:14 pm IST
