The Kerala government allowed "illegal human habitat expansion and mining" in the state's fragile region which resulted in the devastating landslides in Wayanad district, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said on Monday.

Yadav also informed news agency PTI that consultation with the states on the notification of eco-sensitive zone in the Western Ghats should be finalised soon. The environment ministry has issued six draft notifications since 2014 to declare more than 56,800 square kilometres of the Western Ghats across six states as eco-sensitive but the final notification is pending amid objections from states. Yadav said an expert panel set up in April 2022 to find a breakthrough is in "constant touch with the states" on the issue.