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Published in:
2020 | OriginalPaper | Chapter
Coastal Flooding by Dam Mismanagement: Investigative Post-Disaster Study on Criminal Negligence or An Act of God
Author : N. R. Joseph
Published in: Development in Coastal Zones and Disaster Management
Publisher: Springer Singapore
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Abstract
This chapter presents one of the most closely watched battles of a single citizen to save his coastal homeland. It is an investigative effort of an ordinary person to interrogate the state government’s usage of the morally outrageous ‘Act of God’ argument as a cause of floods. This chapter is a first-hand account of investigations made by the author before filing the first PIL (Public Interest Litigation) against the Government of Kerala calling it criminal negligence on their part rather than an ‘Act of God’. The author has also unraveled the concealment of facts in the Counter Affidavits filed by the Government to confuse the court with jargon, data, graphs and government memos.
Having convinced the Amicus Curiae during several meetings the author was asked to present his arguments as ‘Notes to the Registrar of the High Court’. The report of the Amicus Curiae concluded that there was sufficient evidence of non-compliance of guidelines and criminal negligence on the part of the dam authorities which had indeed caused the flood. The High Court has admitted the case and hearings have begun.
This chapter may inspire coastal inhabitants to play a proactive role in protecting their coasts as the planet frantically moves in the direction of the last gasp before it sinks. The author has also alerted the Court that the parameters that caused this situation are disturbingly still in place as not even an independent investigation is being conducted to address issues of accountability of authorities. The chapter uses the data submitted by the dam authorities themselves in their Counter Affidavit to establish blatant non-compliance of several guidelines on dams and reservoirs by Central Government Agencies. It exposes the argument of disasters being an ‘Act of God’ used by authorities to conceal their culpability and to make accountability fuzzy.