KOCHI : Alleging that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan intervened to facilitate the mining of mineral sand from Thottappally river mouth to help synthetic rutile processing firm CMRL, Muvattupuzha MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan said the company made monthly payments to Exalogic solutions, the firm owned by CM’s daughter Veena T, as an expression of gratitude.
Addressing a press conference in Kochi on Saturday, Kuzhalnadan said that a joint committee of trade unions at CMRL had submitted a memorandum to the CM on February 6, 2017 urging him to ensure availability of Ilmenite, the raw material for manufacturing synthetic rutile. The memorandum said the company was on the verge of closure due to non-availability of raw material as Central PSU Indian Rare Earths (IRE) was not providing adequate quantity of ilmenite. On March 8, 2017, the CM wrote in the file to take appropriate action. As the chairman of the district disaster management authority, the Alappuzha collector issued an order on October 27 directing to remove the sand bund at the river mouth at Thottappally to ensure free flow of water into the sea. The order said the accumulation of sand on the river mouth was causing flood in Kuttanad.
Kuzhalnadan alleged that the government entrusted mining and geology department and NCESS to assess the mineral content in the sand. However, the government granted permission to remove sand at the rate of `464 per cubic metre alleging delay in receiving the report.