Dams opened without following norms, report of national weather monitoring centre not taken seriously, amicus curiae Jacob P Alex, who was appointed last year for Kerala floods cases, tells the High Court
The August 2018 deluge claimed more than 450 lives in Kerala. (File Phtoto: IANS)
Putting the LDF government in Kerala in a fix ahead of Lok Sabha polls, the amicus curiae appointed by the Kerala High Court in flood cases, on Wednesday submitted a report stating that lapses in dam management and sudden release of water caused the devastating Kerala floods in August last year. The amicus curiae also recommended to conduct a judicial probe into the disaster to find the reason behind the flood.
The Kerala High Court has appointed Jacob P Alex as amicus curiae in cases related to floods in August last year. Jacob P Alex submitted his report in the High Court saying the dams were opened without following norms. The report of the national weather monitoring centre was not taken seriously and adequate steps were not taken to face heavy rains, it said.
The report pointed out that the statements filed by the state government, Kerala State Electricity Board Limited (KSEB) and Direct Selling Association (DSA) were silent about the operation of dams in Kerala in accordance with dam specific rule curves.
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In the report, it also recommended to conduct a detailed inquiry on the floods by an independent expert committee headed by a former judge of a superior court and preferably consisting of a reputed hydrologist, experts in dam management and engineers.
The petition filed by Metro Man Sreedharan and others were pending before the court. Sreedharan, in his petition, submitted that the mid-August deluge which claimed more than 450 lives and horrendous damage was indeed a manmade disaster. In this connection, state power minister, MM Mani refused to comment.
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has demanded that chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan must answer for the loss of 450 lives .
BJP state president PS Sreedharan Pillai demanded the resignation of CM in the wake of the amicus curiae report which stated that the Kerala floods was a man-made disaster He said that LDF cannot escape from the responsibility of the worst ever flood which had hit the state.
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