more-in Calling for sustainable development in the State in the wake of the recent floods, a group of academicians and environmental activists under the aegis of the Society for the Protection of Environment (SPEK) has urged the government to drop the proposed hill highway project that will cut through mountain ranges and forests. Flood damage After assessing the damage caused by the floods, the group led by noted environmentalist and science movement leader A. Achyuthan, K. Sreedharan and K.M. Unnikrishnan Nambeesan of Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad and SPEK president K.K. Vijayan has brought of a charter of suggestions on how to rebuild Kerala. Any development project should be conceived only after ensuring that marshy land, wetlands and mangroves are left undisturbed, they said. All encroachers on forest land should be evicted without fail. The recommendations of the Gadgil commission report should be taken seriously, they added. They have urged the government to prohibit the cultivation of short-term crops on plots with an inclination of 30 degrees in hill regions. Landslips The landslips that occurred on Thamarassery Ghat road was not due to the rains but due to the cultivation of crops on the sides of the road, they said. The environmentalists have also sought to do away with amendments made to the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act. Modern facilities should be used in disaster management, they said.

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