‘Corruption and loot of Pinarayi Govt led to floods’; Mathew Kuzhalnadan releases minister’s dialogues

KOCHI: Mathew Kuzhalnadan, the UDF candidate from Muvattupuzha, said Pinarayi government's greed for crores destroyed Kerala. He said the corruption and looting of the Pinarayi government led to the floods. He alleged that the floods that destroyed Kerala were manmade. He also released an audio recording of former irrigation minister K Krishnankutty.

‘Should not pretend to be virtuous in corruption. Why was the Thottappally spillway not opened? It should have been opened a month earlier. Even though the executive engineer requested it, it was not opened. If it had been opened, the sand accumulation below would have been washed away by the water. The contract for this was taken by a contractor named Mary Matha. The contract rate was Rs 62 per cubic meter, but if resold, it could fetch Rs 2000. After all expenses, they could make at least Rs 300 crore. It was not opened for his benefit.

The Maniyar project belongs to the irrigation department. Even in the electricity project, power generation is handled by a private company. Water should not be stored in Maniyar, but for the benefit of contractors, shutters were closed and water was stored. Meanwhile, a tree fell there. By storing water, they allegedly made Rs 8 crore. When water levels rose, opening the sluice at the bottom led to the destruction of Chengannur,’ these are the things said by K Krishnankutty.

Mathew Kuzhalnadan stated that a former irrigation minister had said the Thottappally spillway was not opened to prevent the loss of sand. Kuzhalnadan alleged that under an executive order of the disaster management authority, actions were taken that resulted in profits worth crores. Ignoring safety, water was held back for financial interests and later released, which led to the destruction of Chalakudy. He further alleged that Kerala was not destroyed, but deliberately devastated.