Illegality shouldn't be condoned, but affected people priority: Tharoor on Wayanad landslides

New Delhi: Action should be taken if any illegality resulted in the Wayanad disaster, but right now, the affected people battling psychological trauma require attention and sympathy, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said on Monday.

Tharoor was responding to Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav's remarks that the Kerala government allowed "illegal human habitat expansion and mining" in the state's fragile region which resulted in the devastating landslides in Wayanad district.

"If there has been any illegality that certainly should not be condoned and action should be taken. On that, I think we are all in (of) the same view that illegality is not something anybody welcomes. And I am sure the committee should do a professional job and make the decisions it needs to make," Tharoor told PTI Video.

"I think right now our uppermost concern must be the lives that were lost and the human beings at stake. Bodies are still to be found, people are still searching. I was there in Wayanad on the weekend.

"The uppermost concern now is to look after the survivors, try and treat their wounds, which are not only physical wounds, but mental. They've gone through terrible psychological trauma. And all of these require our attention and sympathy," said the MP from Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram.

Earlier in the day, Yadav told PTI Video that the Western Ghats is one of the most fragile regions in the country like the Himalayas and serious efforts must be made to prevent disasters in such regions. "The Kerala government is also responsible for ensuring the same," he said.

He said the consultation with the states on the notification of eco-sensitive zone in the Western Ghats should be finalised soon.

The environment ministry has issued six draft notifications, including one issued on July 31, since March 10, 2014, to declare over 56,800 square kilometres of the Western Ghats across six states as eco-sensitive but the final notification is pending amid objections from states.

Yadav said an expert panel set up in April 2022 to find a breakthrough is in "constant touch with the states".

"Since the ownership of forests is with the states, we had asked them to submit their objections and suggestions to the committee headed by former director general of forest Sanjay Kumar. There should be consultation with local stakeholders too. Instead of doing this, illegal human habitat expansion and mining were allowed (in Kerala) which resulted in this natural disaster (in Wayanad)," he told PTI Video.

Last week, the Centre issued a sixth draft notification to declare over 56,800 square kilometres of the Western Ghats across six states, including 13 villages in Kerala's landslide-hit Wayanad, Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA), inviting suggestions and objections within 60 days.

The notification was issued on July 31, a day after a series of landslides claimed over 200 lives in Wayanad.

Scientists from the state and beyond attributed the disaster to a deadly mix of forest cover loss, mining in the fragile terrain and climate change.