Hundreds of people affected by pollution from wood-based units in the district took out a march to the district Collectorate on Tuesday. P.C.Cyriac, former civil servant and president of Anti-Corruption People’s Movement, inaugurated the march. The march was organized by the Action Council for Environmental Protection, as part of a renewed agitation that the people plan to undertake to get the polluting wood-based units, mostly manufacturing plywood, units shifted from residential areas. Mr.Cyriac said an agreement reached between the district administration and the Action Council last year, was yet to be implemented. He demanded that the recommendations made by the Central Empowered Committee on the wood-based units in the district be implemented. The Action Council patron and environmental activist, S.Sitaraman, alleged that the government was planning to amend the prevailing Act on wetlands with a view to protecting the erring plywood units, many of which had been set up in converted paddy fields, violating the clauses of the Act. The government was trying to legitimize illegally converted paddy land under the guise of helping the farmer, he said.