A convention of environmental and cultural organisations in the district here on Monday urged political parties and candidates who are contesting the coming local body elections to reveal their stance on environmental issues of the hill district.
It urged the public not to cast their votes to the political parties and their candidates who had supported the vested interests of granite and sand mining mafia.
The convention was held in the wake of a recent order issued by the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), Wayanad, to enforce stringent restrictions over the mushrooming of high rise constructions.
Though the authority had issued the order, it was yet to mention the surface area of construction.
2,000 sq.ft.
Hence the area of constructing houses should be restricted to 2,000 sq ft.
It also urged the government to amend the building construction rules by providing the authority to the DDMA, especially in an ecologically fragile district such as Wayanad.
The meet said such an amendment and restriction over constructions was the need of the hour to prevent a similar disaster that had happened in Uttarakhand and Kashmir.
It also demanded implementation of the recommendations of experts of the National Centre for Earth Science Studies, who had conducted a study following a natural disaster in the district in 2009. P. Chathukutty, a social activist and environmentalist, inaugurated the convention.
