JNU research body finds Kerala govt's 'lacklustre' attitude responsible for floods

The Kerala government's "lacklustre" attitude in dealing with natural disasters was responsible for devastating floods that hit the southern state in August, a study conducted by the Jawaharlal Nehru University has claimed.

The report titled '2018 Kerala Floods: Governance and Legal Compliance', prepared by the Special Centre for Disaster Research of the JNU, which was released on Friday here, said the ecologists had repeatedly warned the state government about its preparedness like management of dams, information dissemination to municipal and panchayat authorities.

"As the research team had already been working on the environmental devastation and community resilience in Kerala since 2016, such a calamity was not a surprise, but what was surprising was the lack of preparedness, the intransigence of administrative authorities," Amita Singh, a professor of the research institute, said.

The research team found the Kerala government "has acted against nature, environment and ecosystems and one disaster pushed the state to many years behind".

"The government has been very ill prepared to encounter a disaster. Dam Safety regulations assisted by flood inundation maps and early action plan(EAP) was ignored. Such a casual handling of people's lives and an irresponsible release of water led to devastating deluge," the report stated.

It said dam safety regulations assisted by flood inundation maps and Early Action Plan (EAP) were ignored. Such a casual handling of people's lives and an irresponsible release of water led to the devastating deluge.