Congress legislator Mathew Kuzhalnadan on February 27 (Monday) sought to put the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala in the dock for big-ticket corruption by accusing Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of permitting a Kochi-based mining firm to quarry mineral-rich sand at “throwaway prices” from the expansive backwater channel leading to the spillway at Thottapally in Alappuzha district.
At a press conference here, Mr. Kuzhalnadan said Mr. Vijayan’s “largesse” to the Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) in 2020 cost the public exchequer ₹40,000 crore by a conservative estimate. “The money could have helped the government easily dodge the current financial crisis”, he said.
Flaunting what he claimed to be government records running into nearly 2,000 pages, Mr. Kuzhalnadan said the firm had approached Mr. Vijayan seeking a government permit to mine the mineral ilmenite.
