A 31-year-old woman from Kerala, who is presently waging a lonely battle in New Delhi against sand mafia in her village, will be given a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh by an industrialist for her courage.
Industrialist Kochouseph Chittilapally has announced to give the reward to Jazeera, who has been demanding an end to illegal mining of sand at her coastal village of Puthiyuangadi in Kannur, for courage and commitment, company sources said.
Jazeera, hailing from Kannur in northern Kerala, took on the powerful sand mafia and lodged protests in Kannur and Thiruvananthapuram. When she found that her sit-in outside the state secretariat was not bearing fruit, she shifted to Delhi along with her three small children a few months back.
Undeterred by cold climate, Jazeera is continuing her fight by sitting outside the Kerala House awaiting an assurance from the government that illegal sand mining would be stopped in her village.
The announcement for the reward comes close on the heels of Chittilapally, founder Chairman and Managing Director of V-Guard Industries, giving a similar amount to Sandhya, a housewife at Thiruvananthapuram, who lashed out against the LDF blockade in front of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy's official residence at Cliff House recently.
