KOCHI: Hours before the campaigning for the April 9 assembly polls came to a close, KPCC vice-president and UDF candidate from Muvattupuzha, Mathew Kuzhalnadan, on Tuesday alleged that the 2018 Kerala floods were “man-made,” attributing them to widespread corruption and mismanagement. He reiterated the allegation while releasing an audio clip, purportedly of then water resources minister K Krishnankutty allegedly admitting to the same.
Speaking to reporters in the presence of senior Janata Dal leader Prabhath, Kuzhalnadan alleged that the delay in opening the Thottappally spillway in Alappuzha was intended to benefit the sand mafia.
“Why didn’t they open the Thottappally spillway, which was supposed to be opened a month ago? The executive engineer had also requested that it be opened, but they didn’t open the shutters. It was because the sand deposit below the shutters, which was tendered to a private entity, would be swept away if the shutters were opened,” said Kuzhalnadan.
Pointing to the alleged large-scale financial irregularities, he said, a private contractor, Mary Matha, was granted the contract to mine the sand at Rs 62 per cubic metre, while the sand could fetch at least Rs 2,000 per cubic metre in the market.
Though the project was valued at around Rs 5 crore, the contractor could make profits of at least Rs 300 crore. Kuzhalnadan further alleged that there were major irregularities worth crores of rupees in projects at Maniyar and Parambikulam, attributing them to the government’s ‘greed and corruption’.
In the alleged audio clip of Minister K Krishnankutty released by Kuzhalnadan, the minister is heard speaking against former minister Mathew T Thomas that he “should not pretend to be a saint.”
Responding to the issue, both Krishnankutty and Mathew T Thomas said there was no need to reply to what they termed as baseless allegations.
“The audio clip that surfaced is not mine. I suspect the voice may have been AI-generated. It appears to have been fabricated with political motives to malign Mathew T Thomas, and I will pursue legal action,” said Krishnankutty. He also accused Kuzhalnadan of being influenced by former Janata Dal leader Prabhath, alleging that the latter had fallen out with the party after his demands were not met.
Meanwhile, Mathew T Thomas, the LDF candidate from Tiruvalla, said the people of Kerala would reject such allegations outright.
“Studies by the Central Water Commission and technical experts from IIT Madras have clearly concluded that the floods were caused by extremely heavy rainfall. All shutters of the spillway were opened, and the claim that it was not opened is false. Such allegations are being raised ahead of elections for political gain,” he added.