kochi lakshadweep islanders observed a black day as administrator praful k patel arrived on monday afternoon for a sevenday tour of the atolls residents put up black flags in front of their homes and staged sitin protests outside their own houses to protest against the policies of the administration protesters who followed covid protocols also shared images and visuals of their protests wearing black clothes on social mediathe protest was organized by save lakshadweep forum slf an organization formed at an allparty meeting to protest against the orders and controversial draft regulations issued by the administration since patel took charge slf convener uck thangal said black day protest was total and everyone except those who are under the employment of the administration took part in it thangal said it was for the first time in history that the people of lakshadweep welcomed their administrator with black flagswe used to welcome administrators with our traditional cultural performances and exceptional hospitality this time we had to welcome him wearing black there are enough laws here for land acquisition and criminal laws to keep the crime rate in check we are not against development if he wants he can acquire land through existing laws and pay adequate compensation new regulations have given rise to despair here he said adding that he was hopeful that the administrator would rethink his decisionsthaha malika a district panchayat member from kavaratti said that apart from an argument over protesting at a home near the bungalow of the administrator the protests were peacefula group of youngsters were there in a house near the bungalow wearing black and police asked them to move away later other senior officers also asked them to go away from the spot leading to a minor argument the youths stood on the rooftop as a form of protest said malikahe added that some police took away black flags and were even seen clicking pictures of homes where the islanders were protesting slf corecommittee will hold a meeting on tuesday to decide further course of action the aim was to make the administrator understand our protests said thangalpatel arrived at agatti by afternoon and went to his official residence in kavaratti apart from official business he would conduct a field visit to the proposed site for a hospital in kavaratti patel would also inspect presentations on proposed smart city project and ecotourism projectsearlier in the day mps hibi eden and tn prathapan along with mla anwar sadath had gone to the kochi airport to explore the possibility of meeting patel however they couldnt meet him as he had flown directly to agattimeanwhile the administration extended the complete lockdown in kavaratti bitra kiltan and minicoy islands for seven more days night curfew would continue in the remaining islands