Kalpetta: The expert panel appointed by the state government to guide rehabilitation schemes in landslide-hit villages in Wayanad has come in for flak from the environmentalists and the public.
The Wayanad Prakrithi Samrakshana Samithy (WPSS) has demanded that the state government should not consider the report of the panel headed by former NCESS scientist John Mathai. The panel had recommended categorising landslide affected areas as permissible and non-permissible areas for human habitation.
The criticism has come in the wake of the massive protest from the people who had left the area after the landslide, against the expert panel's report, which said that only the areas within 30-50 meters from the landslide are unsafe. The issue created tumultuous scenes in a recent meeting called by District Collector D R Meghasree. A section of people who had abandoned the villages questioned the veracity of the expert committee's recommendations.
The panel had submitted a study on the magnitude of the calamity, and reasons for the landslide and also submitted recommendations on safe zones for rehabilitation and reconstruction of both the villages in landslide-prone zones.
WPSS said in a press release that the report submitted to the government was unscientific and had no connection with the ground reality. “The expert is dancing to the tunes of some vested interest groups in the government and also is a consultant to many private groups. The panel should be headed by an expert still in government service and not by the retired hands who work for various groups,” the organization said.
WPSS also called for another panel with experts from the Geological Survey of India, Central Ground Water Board, CWRDM (Centre for Water Resources Development and Management), various IITs, Department of Soil Conservation and Indian Meteorological Department.
