Kerala govt yet to clear the air over Mullaperiyar tree-felling row

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan

Thiruvananthapuram: The furore over a controversial Kerala government order allowing Tamil Nadu to cut the trees near the baby dam at Mullaperiyar refuses to die down.

It has been two weeks since the Chief Wildlife Warden issued this order, but a few questions over the issue still remain unanswered even as the Kerala Forest Minister and Water Resources Minister have been claiming ignorance and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan continues to maintain silence over the issue.

The probe by Chief Secretary V P Joy is in the final stage even as the Chief Wildlife Warden has been suspended and the controversial order quashed.

More light needs to be thrown on a few pertinent points such as the minutes of a meeting regarding the issue.

The minutes of a meeting, which is said to have been held in the chamber of Water Resources Additional Chief Secretary T K Jose, have not been released yet. Apart from Jose, Forest Principal Secretary Rajesh Kumar Sinha and former Chief Wildlife Warden Bennichan Thomas had also reportedly taken part in the meeting.

Forest Minister A K Saseendran had said in the Assembly that he had seen the minutes of the meeting. Minister Roshy Augustine has been contending that the meeting did not take place, but did not respond about the minutes mentioned by Saseendran. Saseendran did not correct what he had said in the Assembly either.

Chief Wildlife Warden's plight

The suspension of the Chief Wildlife Warden has given rise to a charge that officers are being made scapegoats.

This when the contradictory statements by the Ministers and the CM's silence strengthen the suspicion over whether officials would issue an order, which is against the interests of Kerala, over a long-standing dispute between the two states, without the knowledge of the political executive.

Kerala cannot give permission to cut the trees without the nod from the Union Ministry of Environment & Forest and the National Wildlife Board. The government is maintaining the stance that it came to know about the order only after receiving a letter from the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister. But inter-state river water issues come under the purview of the CM. And the question remains over whether an official can make a decision or issue an order without his knowledge.

In a letter submitted to T K Jose in connection with the controversial order, Bennichen Thomas mentioned about the meeting held in his chamber on November 1. If the meeting had not taken place, would he make such a reference?

Why the CM keeps mum

From the day the order was issued till Thursday, 12 posts were put up on the Chief Minister's official Facebook page. None of these mention the order on tree-felling. He has not been ready to respond to the media either. On Saturday, it would be a month since the Chief Minister's evening press meets were cancelled.

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Onmanorama. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.