Loktantrik Janata Dal leader Sharad Yadav yesterday suggested that natural tragedies across the country had a lot to do with the way the ecological balance had been harmed by unplanned developmental work. In a statement, Yadav said damage to the property in the Kerala floods would be running into thousands of crores and asked the Centre to declare it as a national disaster.

"Incursions into catchment areas of rivers which are dried up and settlements of the people in the vicinity of mountains are some of the reasons for such destructions. More you disturb the nature, more untoward incidents will happen," the former Union minister said.