“If the fragile nature of our environment is not taken into consideration while rebuilding Kerala, it is impossible to build up a 'Nava Keralam' (new Kerala) despite spending crores,” said P.T. Thomas, Thrikkakkara MLA, here on Monday.
Mr. Thomas was in Kozhikode to take part in a seminar on “Environment in Kerala” on the fourth day of the seminar series “The Kerala that should be rebuilt.”
Mr. Thomas said that all of the political parties in the country, including the Indian National Congress, the BJP that supported the Madhav Gadgil Report in the beginning, and the CPI(M) were on the backfoot when it came to environmental protection and that they were equally interested in requesting the Central government to exclude many ecologically fragile areas while implementing the report.
“There will soon be a time when the mainstream political parties will be questioned for their stand against environment,” said the MLA, who has been a strong voice in favour of the Madhav Gadgil Report.
“The people, who created an uproar about the Gadgil Report had no interest in its contents. Their concern was purely personal, and hence, they crucified Gadgil in all ways possible”, he said. Mr.Thomas said that people in the high ranges were misinformed about the report, leading to their uprise and added that religious bodies also had played a major role in spreading wrong information in this regard.
“This is a time we should create value-based environment awareness, especially among children,” he said.
Mr.Thomas said that encroachment on water sources contributed to 90% of landslips and called for a change in the style of construction of buildings based on the land and soil structure. “We should also stop treating people who talk about environment like terrorists.”
Kutty Ahammed Kutty, MLA, and K.Sridharan, Director of Skill Development Centre, spoke on the occasion while activist S.Usha was the moderator.
The seminar series will conclude on Tuesday with a discussion on “Social Kerala” that needs to be rebuilt.
