Thiruvananthapuram: Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan on Friday produced evidence to show that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had used his position to favour Kerala Rare Earths and Minerals Ltd (KREML), a sister concern of Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL), on three counts.
One, meddling with the functioning of independent departments just so that the KREML could hold on to mining leases even years after the Central Government issued an order asking states to terminate all mining leases in the private sector. Two, rigging the administrative mechanism to grant KREML exemption from the Land Reforms Act; in this case, the Tourism Department was also involved, and so, according to Kuzhalnadan, tourism minister Muhammad Riyas's role should also be probed.
Three, invoking his powers as chairman of the State Disaster Management Authority to allow the KREML to carry away sand rich in rare minerals from Thottappally Spillway at throwaway prices.
Mining leases
Kuzhalnadan produced official correspondences and a 'circulation note' to establish that it was the last-minute intervention of the Chief Minister that led to the non-cancellation of KREML's four mining leases.
After the Centre issued an order in 2019 terminating all mining leases in the private sector, the State Mining and Geology Department wrote to the Industries Department asking for the cancellation of KREML’s mining leases. However, an Industries Department note in Kuzhalnadan's possession reveals that the CM, even if he was not in charge of Industries, had called a meeting to discuss the issue in September 2019. And then there are official records to show that the CM's meeting decided to seek further legal advice on the issue, virtually putting on hold the cancellation of the leases.
"As a result, the leases continued in the possession of the KREML for four years. They were cancelled only in 2024 when I filed a case," Kuzhalnadan said.
Exemption from Land Reforms Act
The four mining leases were first granted in 2004 and revoked 10 days later following intense public disapproval. The subsequent V S Achuthanandan and Oommen Chandy governments, too, were unwilling to grant the leases even after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of KREML.
The company had purchased over 60 acres at the Thrikkunnapuzha-Arattupuzha belt in Alappuzha for the construction of a mining and mineral complex. In 2012, the company sought exemption for 51 acres under Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963. The Act says a company cannot possess more than 15 acres.
After their application was rejected by the Revenue Department twice, the company wrote directly to the Chief Minister. Following this, the Revenue Department asked the company to submit a revised project. Kuzhalandan said that such a favour for those unlawfully holding on to government land was unheard of. "This was a kind of relief denied to even P V Anwar MLA whose excess land was taken over by the Land Board," Kuzhalnadan said.
Thus a mining project was transformed into a tourism project and resubmitted for exemption under the Land Reforms Act. Kuzhalnadan said that IAS officer Dr Renu Raj was appointed as Alappuzha collector to facilitate the exemption.
Unlike the two earlier district-level committees that had rejected the KREML pleas for exemption, the new one chaired by Renu Raj found the proposal fit for exemption under the Land Reforms Act. Kuzhalnadan said the tourism representative in the committee had backed the KREML proposal. "At that time the tourism minister's wife was getting monthly payments from CMRL," Kuzhalnadan said, hinting at a quid quo pro.
He said the Tourism Department order, exempting KREML's land from the provisions of the Act, was still valid.
Floods and Ilmenite mining
Kuzhalnadan referred to a sequence of events to establish that the Chief Minister had taken a personal interest in throwing open the Thottappally Spillway for the CMRL to cart away boatloads of sand rich in ilmenite.
He said the CMRL had been constantly demanding an increase in domestic production to bring down ilmenite costs. Kuzhalnadan said that it was after the company and its trade unions wrote directly to him seeking help to increase the domestic production of ilmenite that the CM invoked his powers as chairman of the Disaster Management Authority to help CMRL.
"It was at a meeting chaired by the CM that the Irrigation Department was first asked to take steps to hand over the sand in Thottappally Spillway to CMRL and KMML," Kuzhalnadan said. "The sand was given away at the prices quoted by the CMRL and KMML without even carrying out an independent assessment," Kuzhalnadan said.
The Irrigation Department had also inked an agreement with the CMRL and KMML. Kuzhalnadan said the last paragraph of the agreement betrayed the real intention of the deal. Here's the last paragraph: "The Chief Engineer is directed to take urgent action to execute the necessary agreements with the companies and move forward to avoid the loss of sand during the impending monsoon so as to allow the free flow of water through the pozhi mouth."
Kuzhalnadan saw in this an unholy haste to secure the sand before the rains. "Clearly, the objective was not to allow the smooth flow of water but to somehow quickly lay hands on the ilmenite-rich sand," he said.
