The ongoing protest by local residents of nearby Avikkal Thodu against the proposed sewage treatment plant (STP) in their locality turned violent on Saturday.
Police resorted to a lathi-charge after a section of the demonstrators pulled down the barricades and pelted stones at the policemen.
The residents of the coastal area of Avikkal Thodu in Vellayil, two km away from the Corporation office, have been on a warpath since the authorities identified the area for constructing the plant there a year ago.
The residents, mostly fishermen, had prevented the contractor from starting the work at the proposed site on Monday morning. The agitators, under their Anti-Sewage Treatment Plant Committee, also staged a sit-in dharna in front of the Nadakkavu police station on the same day. The opposition Congress-UDF has already extended its support to the protest. An appeal by Congress leader and Kozhikode M P, M K Raghavan for conciliation talks was earlier declined by the authorities.
