# Ajayan | On May 25, the Liberian-flagged MSC Elsa 3 sank off Alappuzha, dragging 640 containers into the deep; 13 laced with hazardous cargo, 12 with calcium carbide, and a fine cocktail of furnace oil and diesel. A toxic brew worthy of a horror tale. But did it stir the State? Not a flicker. After a chat with the Director General of Shipping, the Chief Minister delivered the real twist: no case, just compensation. Because the culprit ship belonged to MSC, a prized client of the Adani-run Vizhinjam port, the government feels its crown jewel. Accountability, clearly, sinks faster than the vessel.

On Wednesday, the State police had a sudden epiphany; then came an FIR against the shipping giant’s owners, captain and crew for rash navigation and negligence. Not out of conscience, but out of legal self-preservation. With a petition in Kerala High Court from one C Shamji of Neerkunnam Matsya Gramam, the government clearly sensed the writing on the wall. A textbook case of legal anticipatory yoga; just bend enough to dodge a judicial blow. Had this been about real concern for people or the poisoned sea, action would have followed the wreck, not weeks later dressed as justice. But when Vizhinjam port is its crown jewel in the grand opera of ‘development,’ it can’t ruffle its investors.

As if the seas hadn’t suffered enough, another container vessel decided to light up - this time off Kerala’s northern coast. The blaze rages on, the damage still a mystery and none seems to be counting.

Amid the grand parade of 'development' with flashy reels, roaring speeches and posters practically flexing muscle came an inconvenient glitch: a chunk of the much-touted National Highway caved in with the season’s first rain. Poetic, really. One minute it was to be ribbon-cutting glory, and the next was a pothole to the underworld. But the spin team moved fast; blame was airmailed to the Centre’s National Highway Authority. After all, why let facts or collapsing roads dim the dazzle of a good PR fantasy?

Here too, the State slipped into its favourite role, elegantly ducking responsibility. No case, no outrage, not even a token finger wag at those who twisted plans for profit and threw engineering norms out the window. The contractor, already infamous elsewhere for subpar work, had the magic passcode of a well-timed electoral bond.

Enter Congress leader KC Venugopal, inspecting the collapse site as head of the Public Accounts Committee. The moment he dared utter “serious probe”, CPI(M) erupted in righteous fury; any scrutiny must be an Opposition conspiracy to stall progress. Corruption and environmental violations are just mere background noise. The real mission isn’t infrastructure; it is paving the National Highway straight into next year’s Assembly campaign, shortcuts and sinking soil be damned.

Ironically, this is the same CPI(M) that once marched furiously against the UDF’s Expressway plan, warning it would slice Kerala in two. They even spun pastoral doom; a hapless villager unable to graze his cow across the highway. Fast forward: same road, new name, different rulers. The only difference is that with CPI(M) in charge, the old cow may have apparently grown wings.

Sure, it’s part of the Centre’s grand road dream. But the State, ever the vigilant guardian of its people, chose to snooze through the warnings. In a land squeezed between mountains and sea, carving a concrete spine was always destined to end in tears; much like that other nightmarish SilverLine proposal. As always, water flows where it pleases, just like in 2018, and the road gives way. Viaducts could’ve helped, but they require time and money; These are two things this government can’t spare when it’s busy chasing a ‘historic’ third term with the new mantra of concrete first, consequences later.

Quality control is barely a whisper. This is the same State Government that proudly diluted Wetland Conservation rules, turning paddy fields into real estate dreams. And just to seal the deal, they handed out free slush to fill embankments; because what better way to build a road quickly than on a sinking foundation?

Fuel cess even from every rickety auto and scooter in Kerala has contributed well to build these highways. Yet those very vehicles are pushed to crumbling side-paths, as if they don’t count. The ruling party, champion of the masses, seems oddly unbothered by this discrimination. Everyone knows the script, and the game’s barely disguised; even if the party loudspeakers keep howling and reeling as if noise can rewrite the truth.