THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has filed a complaint with the Vigilance director, seeking a probe into the backwaters encroachment other illegalities alleged against Transport Minister Thomas Chandy. Chennithala’s move comes “in the absence of government action, coupled with the silence of the Chief Minister despite a flurry of media reports fixing the charges upon Chandy.” The complaint alleges Thomas Chandy misused powers vested in him as an MLA and a minister on many counts.
“Laying bitumen on only a stretch of road up to the Lake Palace Resort owned by the minister in Alappuzha is nothing but misuse of power and public money. Encroaching upon the lake in front of the resort by laying floating pipes is punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Land Conservation Act,” the complaint said. It also alleged of a conspiracy behind the filling up of paddy fields owned by Chandy’s manager using silt dredged from the backwaters.
“Conversion of tracts of the Marthandam paddy field, originally distributed to the landless and which later came into the hands of Thomas Chandy later, is a serious offence,” the complaint said.Earlier in the day, Chennithala took strong exception to the Chief Minister’s silence on the matter despite grave charges being levelled against a member of his Cabinet. “The Chief Minister had told the Assembly the allegations against Thomas Chandy were wrong and politically motivated. But evidence placed by the media vindicates all the allegations. All the missing files related to the resort have been unearthed in the Alappuzha municipality. It includes tax evasion of the minister’s resort,” he said.