Farmer calls out officials over potentially devastating construction project: 'Turning a blind eye when big money is involved'

Across India, wetlands are disappearing at an alarming rate. In Kerala, the land loss has led to farmer and Communist Party of India leader TN Mukundan opposing one of India's largest retail developers and its plan to build a mall in Thrissur, which is protected under the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act of 2008. According to The Federal, the Kerala High Court ordered the reexamination of the project.

Mukundan said that filling the wetland for the mall is a mistake and an example of "big money" taking precedence over environmental conservation. "Wetlands are not wastelands. Once you fill them up for malls and towers, you can never bring them back. The government itself passed the Wetland Act to protect these ecosystems, yet here we see them turning a blind eye when big money is involved," he said in the report.

In response to the pushback, the Lulu Group has denied any wrongdoing, as the land was purchased legally, and it maintained that the mall has the opportunity to create jobs and give the economy of Thrissur (known as the cultural capital of Kerala) a boost.

However, environmental lawyer Harish Vasudevan disagrees that everything was done legally. Vasudevan says that when the land was initially purchased in 2008, the Kerala State Remote Sensing & Environment Centre reported that it was Paddy Land, but after the purchase, reports were falsified in favor of Lulu Group.

"The person inside KSREC who fabricated the fraudulent report would never have imagined, even in dream, that someone like Mukundan would still have a copy of the old report and bring it before the court," Vasudevan said.

Similar battles over corporate land use are unfolding in other places around the world, too, as activists are increasingly worried over the impacts of global temperatures causing extreme weather, leading to land loss and the failure to protect vulnerable areas.

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In Tennessee, for example, farmers have pushed back against industrial projects as they threaten water and soil quality. Also, in Texas, Urban grower Michael "Plant Daddy" Bell is pushing back by setting an example for small farms to rebuild local food systems using low-impact methods just as he does.

The U.N. Economic Commission for Europe and the IEA Methane Tracker reported in 2021 that methane traps 28-36 times more than carbon dioxide over a century and that 60% of global methane production is because of "human activities."

Per The Federal, Mukundan says the fight is not political, but it is about defending wetlands (which is essentially defending everyone and our entire ecosystem). He insists that he is not against development, but it is important to protect the land and the livelihoods that rely on it — and that begins by not looking away and advocating for change.

One The Federal reader commented: "Cheers to Mukundan, a real hero! I stand with him in spirit and truly hope and pray that he will inspire other environmentally conscious people to join him in reclaiming farmlands. It is heartbreaking to see the tragic environmental changes in the state. In the name of 'development.'"