The Wayanad Government Medical College Action Committee is preparing to intensify agitations demanding the setting up of the proposed government medical college on 50 acres of land donated by the Chandra Prabha Charitable Trust at Madakkimala here.
The organisation is planning a ten-day fast in front of the collectorate here from October 10 in protest against the alleged involvement of the former district administration.
Speaking to the media here on Monday, action committee chairman E.P. Phlipkutty alleged that the proposed project was sabotaged by the former district administration to protect the vested interest of a private medical college lobby in the Malabar region.
Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had laid the foundation stone for the proposed college in 2015 and the road construction works were proposed in 2016, Mr. Philipkutty said. The government had also spent ₹3.10 crore to construct a road to the site in 2018, he added. But the district administration had sabotaged the project by misinterpreting a report of a geological study on the area after the deluge in 2018, he alleged.
Moreover, it was able to mislead the public and those in power under the pretext of the report, he alleged. The proposed site was yet to be identified as an ecologically fragile area.
Ironically, the authorities had given a favourable report for another site at Chelode, Mr. Philipkutty said, adding that the site identified was prone to landslips.
After a comprehensive study, the Public Works Department drafted eco-friendly buildings for the proposed institution at Madakkimala. However, the government decided to set up the institution at Boys’ Town, a highly ecologically fragile area near the Palchuram ghat section on the Wayanad-Kannur border, he added.
