A leadership meeting of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) here on Sunday reiterated its stand that Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran had no role in granting permission to the Tamil Nadu Government for felling trees in the baby dam area, downstream Mullaperiyar reservoir, and fully backed the Minister's action to suspend the official who had issued the order.
NCP president P.C. Chacko said the Chief Secretary would submit a report on the incident in which the permission was granted for felling the trees. Departmental officials would not have a free run, he asserted and said the Forest Minister had acted quickly and decisively against the official. If more officials were involved, they would face action, he said.
He denied that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was silent on the development. The Chief Minister had firmly responded to the incident in the Assembly and there had been no ambiguity about the Chief Minister's stand on the issue.
He said the NCP would organise a protest in front of the the Raj Bhavan on November 27 at 10.30 a.m. against the continuing rise in the price of cooking gas as well as other petroleum products. The party would launch fresh membership campaign on December 31 ahead of organisational elections in February and March next year.
The party had made an appeal to the Forest Minister to draw up a comprehensive plan to help farmers and residents close to forest areas against attacks from wild animals. Around 1,000 wild boars had already been culled and the department could draw up an insurance plan for farmers, who were suffering from wild animal attacks, he said.
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