‘Just imagine if Oommen Chandy or Ramesh Chennithala was the Chief Minister of Kerala now and if the Left was in the opposition, Santhivanam would have become a national issue, red flags would have been raised by dissecting the greenery there… the intellectuals of the party would have delivered speeches aloud .... what Kerala needed is an opposition like how the Left was when they were in the opposition, the Left goes with the people’s hearts when it is in the opposition. Only a communist can raise the voice against injustice (but it should be kept in mind that only when injustice is done by others). They won’t allow any agitation against the Communists to win, but instead would try to weaken it at any cost),” Maheen Hassan, a wildlife photographer, says in his Facebook post.
This is the exact reflection of a large majority’s feeling about the CPI (M)- led LDF government that was anticipated to have a pro-environment stand. But contrary to that, the LDF, to the huge dismay of many, has been taking an anti-ecological stand whenever it comes to projects that cause environmental destruction.
The latest is the protest to conserve 200-year-old Santhivanam, a two-acre ecologically sensitive green island in Kottuvally panchayat near north Paravur in Ernakulam. While the protest against the project of the Kerala State Electricity Board has been gaining momentum, the government is steadfast that the new electric line will pass through the green campus which is home to a variety of flora and fauna.
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Santhivanam
Minister for Power MM Mani has said that the government won’t step back from it as much money has been spent on the project. More bizarre was his statement that what people would say if the government did so. The minister is known for his unyielding, insensitive stand and his responses (he is for the Athirappilly Hydroelectric project that has also been opposed by environmentalists for the destruction it would cause) on relevant social issues mostly seem to come out from his sense of false pride.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, to a query on Santhivanam, has made a similar strange statement- “The government is for conserving the environment; but will go ahead with developmental projects.” But as Meena Menon, the owner of Santhivanam has asked why development is not possible without destroying environment, this is the larger question the Left government is consciously ignoring.
“The Left, when it was in the Opposition would be part of all such protests. While the local leaders of the CPI (M) support environmental conservation, the party leadership and ministers stick to their stubborn stand. It seems weird for me why the Left despite being aware of the repercussions are taking an anti-environmental attitude. They don’t consider any protest which they are not part of, as dissent or objection,” says Sali Palode, a wildlife photographer and activist.
He is also part of Agasthyavanam Biosphere Conservative Forum which has been protesting against the proposed medical waste treatment plant of Indian Medical Association’s Kerala Chapter at Peringamala on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram. There also, the local people had been agitating for long against setting-up of the plant for the devastation it would cause to the ecosystem. However, though the project was cancelled owing to the protest, the local people are now agitating against a proposed plant to produce electricity from waste at Peringamala.
Keezhattur, near Thaliparamba in Kannur, witnessed a similar protest for filling up paddy fields for construction for the expansion of a national highway. There, a group of CPI (M) activists led by former local party leader Suresh Keezhattur, have been up in arms against destruction of the paddy fields. The government again turned a blind eye to the cause.
And even more disappointing is the stepping back of the CPI- who in the current government has turned into a silent spectator. The reputation of the CPI — the second largest party in the LDF, used to be that of a corrective force.
Sridhar Radhakrishan, an environmentalist and Policy person calls the Pinarayi Vijayan government as unprecedentedly ecologically insensitive.
“When the VS Achuthanandan led LDF government was in power, several projects which could harm the environment were quashed even without giving room for any controversy. The Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act was enacted in 2008 when VS was in power. At the time when land acquisition in Moolampilly, Kochi was happening and when the then district collector Mohammed Hanish behaved rudely to the people there, VS even made him apologise to them. And the three CPI ministers in the government — Revenue Minister KP Rajendran, Forest Minister Binoy Viswam and Agricultural Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran, had taken firm stands when it came to environmental protection,” he says.
He adds, “When the UDF came to power after that, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and the Congress ally leaders KM Mani and PK Kunhalikutty tried to amend the Wetland Act, but it didn’t happen because of the objection within the Congress and that from the Opposition. But the Pinarayi government did amend the Act which in effect defeated its whole purpose. And the CPI ministers who are supposed to be the watchdogs are completely silent, it could be because of the direction from the party leadership. Hence the present Govt has sadly turned out to be one of the worst for the environment. It's not that there is no alternative for KSEB project through Santhivanam or the NH through Keezhattur. As in the paddy land issues, in these projects also the government is looking for alignments that are destructive and reeks of aiding with vested interests,” Sridhar says.