Kerala CM blames CPM for the Shut down

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala chief minister oomen chandy sought reasons from CPM for the dawn-to-dusk state-wide shutdown on Monday, which brought Kerala to a grinding halt resulting in a loss of 900 crores barring the agriculture sector loss which is yet to be accounted. The Left opposition had called to protest an order on implementation of the Kasturirangan panel report on conserving Western Ghats environment.

The activities came to an almost standstill allover the state where shops and markets were closed and, except for private vehicles, no public transport vehicles were operating, leaving many stranded at railway stations and bus stands.

"The CPI-M should tell the people of the state why was today's shutdown called. The state has lost Rs.900 crore and, in this figure, the agriculture sector's loss has not been accounted for. In every shutdown, the worst affected are the daily wage workers," Chandy told reporters here.

In spite of assurances from State and central governments to the people that not a single person would be evicted on account of implementation of the Kasturirangan Committee report on Western Ghats, things seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

There were speculations after the Ministry of Environment and Forest came out with the order on Thursday, especially in the hilly districts of the state, that the order would spell a death-knell for their livelihood.

The conditions that were applicable in the order states that: no mining, no setting up of thermal plants, restriction on construction of buildings to less than 20,000 square metres, no township project to exceed 50 hectares, and no setting up of industries in 123 villages in the state and is classified in the red category.

Criticising the CPI-M, which called for the shutdown, Chandy said "it's sad the Left opposition decided to observe a shutdown at a meeting chaired by former chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan.

"It was Achuthanandan himself who wanted the Gadgil Committee report to be implemented (both the state and centre have now replaced Gadgil report with Kasturirangan report because the former was stringent) ... their party secretary Pinarayi Vijayan wrote a letter to me asking me to ensure that the Kasturirangan report would be implemented after talking to all stake holders. We are so surprised by their double standards," said Chandy.

"I will never blame the farmers because they appear to have been misled ... A 24-hour online service has been opened for anyone desirous to know about the Kasturirangan report. The state government-appointed committee will meet all stake holders to find out their views," said Chandy, who added that no one will lose their land nor would anyone have to move out from where they stay