Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan kicked up another political storm by accusing Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of permitting Kochi-based mining firm Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) to quarry mineral-rich sand at throwaway prices from the expansive backwater channel leading to the spillway at Thottapally in Alappuzha district.

Addressing a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, Kuzhalnadan said, Vijayan’s largesse to the CMRL in 2020 cost the public exchequer Rs 40,000 crore by a conservative estimate.

The Congress MLA alleged by misusing his powers under the State Disaster Management Act (SDMA), he directed District Collector Alappuzha to grant the CMRL permission to remove the mineral-rich sand under the pretext of dredging and deepening the canal to mitigate seasonal flooding.

He further alleged that the CMRL quarried 53 lakh tonne from the channel. As a result, the company’s profits increased multifold touching a peak of Rs 40,000 crore through this, he said.

Kuzhalnadan said the government was not responding despite releasing evidence that the chief minister directly intervened to help CMRL. He also accused the CM of diluting the hard-won Kerala Land Reforms Act to grant 55 acres of land to a CMRL subsidiary in the Alappuzha district.

He alleged that the chief minister had intervened directly and illegally to exempt the CMRL from land ceiling norms. Kuzhalnadan said that Vijayan went out of his way to meddle in the affairs of Revenue Department, which was not under his control, and created conditions to revive a CMRL request for exemption from Land Reforms Act that was rejected twice.

Kuzhalnadan said the CM threw the weight of his office behind the CMRL subsidiary and fast-tracked the exemption process in blatant violation of due procedure.

He said the Income Tax Interim settlement Board (ITISB)report states that the lion’s share of the total Rs 135 ‘pay-off ‘ paid by the CMRL to the politicians and others was given to “PV”. “PV” is Pinarayi Vijayan, he said.

Kuzhalnadan repeated that he is ready to openly hold discussions about the allegations raised against him and asked whether local administration minister MB Rajesh and P industries minister P Rajeev are ready to do the same.