Hunger strike against laterite quarry in Kannur suspended after Collector issues stop memo

Residents of the Scheduled Tribe settlement at Thoppilayi near Kakkanpara in Sreekandapuram municipality, Kannur, suspended their 17-day protest against a laterite quarry on Sunday (August 2, 2026) after the District Collector issued a temporary stop memo halting quarrying.

Protest committee convenor P. Bindu, who had been on a fast for nine days, and Uru Mooppan P. Aneesh, who continued the fast for three days, ended their hunger strike.

The protest committee alleged that a private individual had purchased land originally allotted to landless families for house construction under a surplus land scheme and obtained permission for laterite mining using fabricated documents. Residents of the tribal settlement said quarrying on the ecologically sensitive laterite hill posed a serious threat to around 50 Scheduled Tribe families living nearby. They also expressed concern that their cremation ground, community building, and drinking water tank, located close to the quarry site, could be endangered.