Kollam: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan dismissed the amicus curiae report which pointed out that lapse in dam management caused the devastating flood that destroyed Kerala last year.
The CM said that the argument that dams were not opened before heavy rains were not true. Stating the report was not prepared without considering the opinions of experts, the CM said that the final verdict in the matter will be given by the court.
The 49-page explanatory report submitted by Jacob P Alex at the high court stated that dams were opened without abiding by the criteria. It demanded a judicial probe to find if opening of the dams without considering the guidelines and issuing warnings, had caused the disaster.
“The amicus curiae report can be accepted or rejected. It is not even an observation or comment by the court. The report was not prepared after seeking the opinions of all the parties involved. The Central Water Commission and Madras IIT, which has technical expertise in the subject had said that unprecedented heavy rains caused the devastating floods. Expert committees and the international community lauded the state for the way it handled the disaster. Denying all these and circulating the amicus curiae report as fact amounts to insulting the court,” the CM Said.
“This is being done withholding the fact that the court will give the final verdict on the matter,” Pinarayi Vijayan reminded.
Efforts to tackle the havoc caused by rains were held at the district level. Preventive measures were taken even during the floods. “One of the criticisms raised by the amicus curiae was that the dams were not used to control the floods. This is not true,” CM said.
The dams including the one in Idukki has the capacity to deal with the rains expected. During the floods, dams collected and stored a large part of the water that they received. Only the remaining water was let out. The Idukki dam had received 2,800-3,000 cubic meters of water. But only 1,500 cubic meters of water was let out, CM said.
The dams collected a large part of the water. If that hadn't happened, the destruction and devastation would have been far worse. This proves as false the argument that lapses in dam management had led to the floods. It also clarifies that unprecedented rains caused floods, Pinarayi added.
The rains brought in water much more than what out rivers could contain. This caused the floods. There were no lapses in dam management, CM said.
