Govt will not buckle under pressure and abandon projects: CM

Thrissur: Hitting out at "anti-development" crusaders, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Sunday said that the CPI(M)-led LDF government in the State would not buckle under any pressure and abandon projects.

"Some people are creating roadblocks to the development of the state. They are a small section... under pressure from anti-development crusaders, the government will not stop or abandon development projects," he said at a function here.

The chief minister was apparently referring to the violent public protests from a section of locals at Malappuram and Kozhikode districts over laying of the GAILs pipeline project.

Those with high qualifications are unable to get jobs in the state, and a section of people are always objecting to any development projects coming into Kerala, he said, adding that the era of succumbing to pressure and abandoning projects is over.

Significantly, the chief ministers remarks comes a day ahead of the all-party meeting called by the industries department to sort out the issue at Kozhikode tomorrow. Local people in the two northern districts have been protesting for the past few days over the laying of the pipeline through thickly populated areas.

The pipeline laying work is continuing with police protection.

Vijayan had been making a strong pitch for the time-bound implementation of the much-delayed GAIL project in Kerala, saying it was "essential" to ensure "pollution-free" and "sustainable development" in the state.

"It is not proper to curtail development in the name of pollution and use of environment-friendly fuel such as CNG is a solution to this. The state should be connected to GAILs natural gas grid to get CNG at a cheaper rates," he said had last year.