State endorsed encroachments caused landslides: Union minister blames Kerala

New Delhi: In a bid to criticize the Kerala government, the Union Minister of Environment and Forest Bhupender Yadav claimed that illegal human habitation and illegal mining resulted in the deadly disasters of Wayanad. Talking to ANI, he alleged that local politicians are protecting against illegal human habitation.

He claimed that in the name of tourism, Kerala is not creating proper ecological zones. The state is reluctant to allow land to be classified into precise zones as eco-sensitive areas. The state government allowed illegal encroachment, he said, adding that the landslides happened in an extremely ecologically sensitive area.

The minister said that the state government is obliged to provide protection to nature and man. He asserted that the state must ignore the Centre-appointed committee led by former Director General of Forests Sanjay Kumar.

Earlier, Union Home Minister Amit Shah blamed Kerala and asked Lok Sabha why people were not evacuated from the affected areas despite warnings. He claimed that the Central Meteorological Department had warned the state government of impending danger. The state was warned more than once, he claimed and added that great tragedy could have been avoided if action had been taken in time.

However, the MPs from Kerala had pointed out that the area where the disaster occurred had never come under red alert. There was only an orange alert for rainfall of 115 to 204 mm. A red alert was given only after the disaster. From July 23 to 28, the Central Meteorological Department did not even issue an orange alert. An orange alert was given on July 29 at 1 am, while a red alert was issued at 6 am on July 30. By then, tragedy had struck. The MPs had written to Rajya Sabha Speaker Jagdeep Dhankar, showing that Amit Shah had misled the House by stating that he had warned Kerala.