Thiruvananthapuram: UDF government revokes nod for reclamation of wetland
Thiruvananthapuram: The UDF government on Wednesday caved in to the rising tide of protests and withdraw its controversial order sanctioning the reclamation of 425 acres of wetland, including Methran Kayal and areas in Kadmakudy, for tourism and medical tourism projects.
Sources said Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash raised the matter in the cabinet and requested the chief minister to withdraw the order. All ministers supported him and demanded that the order be cancelled to avoid any unseemly controversy on the eve of the crucial polls. Subsequently, Mr Oommen Chandy gave the nod and the cabinet took the decision.
Revenue principal secretary Biswas Mehta had issued the order on March 1 granting sanction to reclaim the land. The order issued just days ahead of the Assembly election notification had raised several eyebrows and invited protests from environmentalists, the Opposition and KPCC president V.M. Sudheeran. The order was to reclaim 378 acres of land to implement tourism projects for Rak Indo Developers Private Ltd and its 14 sister firms on the Kumarakom lake premises.
At the cabinet briefing, the chief minister tried to put up a brave face saying that the Methran project was conceived during V.S. Achuthanandan government’s tenure in 2010 when it was christened as Kumarakom resort project. He alleged that the LDF government had approved the project without imposing any conditions.
He said the UDF government had sanctioned the project subject to strict adherence to the existing environment laws, including Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act. “We have nothing to hide in the entire issue. At a time when elections are round the corner we don’t want to create any controversy. There is paucity of time for clarifying the doubts related to the decision. Moreover, on the eve of elections there is a concerted attempt from various quarters to exploit the situation by creating confusion in the minds of people,” he said. When asked about the need for issuing a fresh order when the LDF had already come out with one in 2010, the chief minister said that certain changes had to be made in the previous order. However, he couldn’t give a convincing reply as to why the government chose the fag end of its tenure to rush through such a controversial decision. He denied the reports that a particular minister was responsible for the order.
“There is a concerted attempt from certain sections to single out individuals for the decision. No one should be criticised in the name of government order. I am responsible for all decisions taken in the cabinet,” he said. The government had also considered Mr V.M. Sudheeran's suggestions. Environmentalists had alleged the revenue department was abetting reclamation of wetlands by private landowners in gross violation of Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act and Ramsar International Treaty for Conservation of Wetlands. They warned that the decision to reclaim 400 acres of backwater paddy fields in Methran Kayal in Kottayam district for the construction of a tourist resort and 47 acres of wetland at Kadamakudy in Ernakulam for a medicity project would cause grave consequences to environment.
