Rs 3,000 cr splurged on Statue of Unity, thousands of families displaced : CPI

Vartha Bharati | 30-10-2018 | 23:53:00 IST

Patna, Oct 30: The CPI on Tuesday flayed the Narendra Modi government for "splurging" nearly Rs 3,000 crore on building Sardar Patel's gigantic statue at a time when debt-ridden farmers are "being driven to suicide" and millions of people are defecating in the open for want of sanitation facilities.

The 182 m Statue of Unity, touted as the world's tallest, is slated to be unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Gujarat on Wednesday.

CPI national secretary Binoy Viswam claimed that 75,000 adivasi families living near the Sardar Sarovar dam had been rendered homeless to facilitate the construction of the mammoth structure.

"While unveiling the structure amid trademark fanfare, the prime minister would do well to take note of the fact that residents of 12 villages situated along the dam have decided not to cook food in their kitchen in protest against the government's high-handedness that was on display while executing the project", he alleged at a press conference here.

"While touting the statue as the tallest in the world he (the prime minister) must also explain the logic behind splurging Rs 2979 crore on a single project at a time when agrarian distress is driving farmers to suicide", the Rajya Sabha MP said.

The statue, he said, is an insult to Sardar Patel as he would have never agreed to the displacement of 75,000 adivasi families to facilitate the construction of a statue.

"The 'Statue of Unity' is testimony to the fact that Make in India is as much a sham as Swachh Bharat has been.

While crores of Indians are still defecating in the open due to lack of sanitation facilities, 99 per cent work on the statue was completed abroad.

"Modi and the RSS - which has been his alma mater - are the Indian heirs of Hitler and Goebbels for whom spreading falsehood is an ideology. We and all Left and secular parties are therefore committed to defeating the BJP in the next general elections", Viswam asserted.

A beginning to this end has already been made in Patna where all like-minded parties had gathered and spoken in one voice at a rally organized by CPI, he claimed.

State CPI secretary Satya Narayan Singh was also present at the press conference.

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Kerala govt declares Wayanad Tiger a man-eater after fatal attack on woman, orders killing

26-01-2025 ¦ 26-01-2025 IST

Representational Image | PC: PTI

Wayanad (Kerala), Jan 26 (PTI): The Kerala government has officially declared the tiger responsible for the death of a 47-year-old woman at an estate in Wayanad as a man-eater and ordered that it be shot dead.

Forest Minister A K Saseendran made the announcement on Sunday following a high-level meeting at the District Collectorate.

This decision comes after the tragic incident on Friday morning, when Radha, a woman from a Scheduled Caste community, was mauled by the tiger while plucking coffee at the Priyadarshini Estate in Mananthavady village.

Minister Saseendran said this is the first time in the state that a tiger has been declared a man-eater.

The same tiger that killed Radha also attacked Beat Forest Officer Jayasurya, a member of the Rapid Response Team (RRT) deployed for patrolling duty in the area on Sunday.

The move to declare the tiger a man-eater was made after assessing its repeated attacks and the increasing threat to human lives, he said.

The decision followed a high-level meeting convened on the Chief Minister’s directive to address the growing issue of tiger attacks. Efforts are underway to capture the animal, and a meeting with the Chief Secretary and other officials was held to address public concerns.

The tiger was declared a man-eater after consulting with the Advocate General and other legal experts, with the Chief Minister’s support for the decision, he added.

In response to the threat posed by the tiger, steps have been taken to clear undergrowth in nearby areas, and surveillance in the region will be intensified. As part of enhanced wildlife management, 100 new cameras will be installed in Wayanad, and 400 AI cameras will be set up across the state by March 31 to strengthen monitoring and prevent wildlife-related attacks, Minister Saseendran said.

The minister also criticised the central government for its lack of support in addressing wildlife issues, stating that even reaching them by phone felt futile. However, he assured that the Centre would be notified of the current situation.

During his visit to Radha's house, Saseendran faced intense protests from local residents who blocked his vehicle, expressing anger and demanding a withdrawal of his statement that Radha was killed inside the forest. Despite the protests, the minister, under police protection, managed to meet Radha’s family members and offered a temporary job to her son.

Addressing media after the visit, the minister assured that all necessary measures would be taken and urged people to support the government's efforts. He also promised to personally monitor the progress of these actions and announced that another meeting would be held on January 29 to discuss the issue further.

Later, Saseendran visited Jayasurya, the forest officer injured in the tiger attack, at the hospital.

The tiger attack also sparked protests on Friday, with locals initially preventing the victim’s remains from being taken for postmortem until authorities assured them of measures to ensure public safety and capture or kill the tiger.

After Minister O R Kelu assured the community that steps would be taken, they allowed Radha’s remains to be taken for postmortem.

Following this, the forest department issued an order to capture or kill the tiger, and prohibitory orders were enforced under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) to prevent public gatherings in four divisions of Mananthavady municipality until the tiger is captured.