Pallakad/Kochi, April 7 Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan made serious allegations on Tuesday that the 2018 floods in Kerala were caused by the "corruption and greed" of the Left government, which delayed opening some dams in the state to benefit certain private businesses.
The allegation was rejected by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who said that expert findings clearly stated that the floods were "not caused by human intervention, but were entirely due to natural factors".
Kuzhalnadan, in support of his allegations, played a purported audio clip of State Electricity Minister K Krishnankutty, who appeared to be blaming then Water Resources Minister Mathew T Thomas for the floods that occurred during the tenure of the first Pinarayi Vijayan government.
According to the purported audio clip, Krishnankutty can be heard saying that the shutters of the Thottappally Spillway in Alappuzha district were opened a month late in order to prevent the sand at the bottom of the regulator from being washed away, which a private company had been allowed to mine.
Krishnankutty could also be heard saying that water was allowed to accumulate in another dam, which was being managed by a private company for electricity generation, and the shutters were only opened after it became overloaded, causing floods downstream.
Krishnankutty denied making such statements and said that anything is possible in the current times due to the presence of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
He stated that the audio clip was created using AI and said that he would take legal action in the matter.
He also said that Indian Socialist Janata Dal leader Thomas would never do anything as alleged against him.
Both belong to the same political party, and Thomas is contesting in the upcoming Assembly polls from Thiruvalla constituency.
Krishnankutty also said that an expert team from IIT, Chennai, had carried out a study and concluded that the floods were caused due to extremely heavy rainfall.
Thomas too said that the IIT report found no wrongdoing.
He said that he does not believe Krishnankutty would make such remarks.
He said that no one will believe the allegations made by Kuzhalnadan, as he lacks credibility.
"There was no delay in opening of dam shutters," Thomas contended. Both he and Krishnankutty were of the view that the allegations were politically motivated and made with an eye on the Assembly polls in Kerala on April 9.
"Why were such allegations not made in the Legislative Assembly when the issue was discussed?" Krishnankutty asked.