The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigation into allegations of corruption involving relatives of Left and Congress functionaries in Kerala in the recent fire at a landfill in Kochi.
Former Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, in-charge of BJP’s affairs in Kerala, addressed a press conference at the party’s headquarters in New Delhi, alleging the involvement of the son-in-law of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, relatives of other Left Democratic Front (LDF) and even a Congress leader in what he termed “monumental” corruption which caused the recent fire.
“There are three sons-in-law, two companies and a big scam. The LDF and the United Democratic Front (UDF) have come together in looting Kerala,” said Mr Javadekar.
Kerala BJP leaders, including Union Minister V. Muraleedharan and former Union Minister K.J. Alphons, were part of the press conference. “I am directly saying that the Chief Minister has taken interest,” Mr. Javadekar said.
Noting that the Kerala High Court has taken up the matter on its own, he expressed hope that it will order a CBI probe into the issue.
He noted that the landfill caught fire on March 2 and it continued for nearly 15 days, causing medical complications to a large number of people as thousands were forced to leave the smoking zone. Answering a question, he said the Centre will also act over the issue.
Mismanagement of waste
“While the solid management rules were notified by the Centre in 2016, the Kerala government never followed them, leading to a complete mismanagement of waste all over the State,” he said. Interestingly, Mr. Javadekar was the Union Environment Minister then.
He said the firm chosen for the waste management in Kochi received a ₹54 crore-contract and it in turn subcontracted the task to other firms for over ₹22 crore. “₹32 crore went straight into its pocket,” he said.
“In Kochi, there is no plant, no processing, no machinery but only expenditure. When various teams including from the Central Pollution Control Board and other organisations visited Kerala and studied the site, they found no waste-processing plant, no waste bio-mining plant but just a dilapidated compost structure,” Mr. Javadekar claimed.
