A Congress MLA on Tuesday alleged that the LDF government engaged in corruption and willfully delayed the opening of the shutters of a spillway during the 2018 floods that resulted in widespread damage to Kuttanad, the state’s rice bowl.
Mathew Kuzhalnadan, the MLA from Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam district, addressed a press conference in which he released an audio recording purportedly of K Krishnankutty, then electricity minister of the state, admitting to a colleague that corruption and involvement with a local sand mining contractor was the reason behind the delayed opening of the Thottapilly spillway which resulted in washing away of swathes of paddy fields and displacement of thousands of people from Kuttanad.
In the phone recording, Krishnankutty is alleged to have told a party colleague that even though an executive engineer recommended the opening of the spillway as the rain intensified, the government intentionally delayed it in order to protect the sand below the dam which was tendered to a private player at a high cost.
Kuzhalnadan said, “The LDF government sacrificed the lives of countless people and their homes at the altar of corruption.”
{{/usCountry}}Kuzhalnadan said, “The LDF government sacrificed the lives of countless people and their homes at the altar of corruption.”
{{/usCountry}}However, Krishnankutty denied that the voice belonged to him and said it could be artificial intelligence-driven. “Such an allegation is being put forward in the backdrop of elections. It is politically motivated,” he said.
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan also denied the allegations, stating that several expert committees had debunked such falsehoods propagated by the UDF. “The desperation of defeat in the upcoming polls has prompted the Congress to broadcast old lies,” he said.