Wayanad landslide aid: Kerala CM refutes Amit Shah's claim

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 9 (PTI) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday strongly criticised the reported claim by Union Home Minister Amit Shah that the state delayed submitting a detailed report on the Wayanad landslide disaster, which allegedly caused the central government to withhold announcing a special financial aid package.

Vijayan called the claim baseless and unfair to the affected people.

The CM said this is not the first time the union home minister has attempted to mislead Parliament and the public regarding the landslide that had struck in areas like Mundakkai, Chooralmala, Attamala, Punchirimattam of Wayanad on July 30.

"Previously, the union home minister falsely cited non-existent weather reports to mislead Parliament, alleging that Kerala had been given specific warnings about landslides but failed to act. This claim was promptly disproven with evidence, and the recent statement in Parliament appears to be a repetition of that earlier attempt," he told a press conference here.

Vijayan said that the state had submitted a memorandum on August 17, just a week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the disaster-hit areas on August 10. The memorandum outlined damages and requested Rs 1,202 crore under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) guidelines for relief and recovery efforts.

Despite this, so far, Kerala has not been given any special financial help, although other states had received help without a formal demand, the chief minister said.

He said the state also completed a comprehensive Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) and handed over its report to the centre on November 13. "In this report, it calculated Rs 2,221 crore for Meppadi and Rs 98.1 crore for Vilangad to take care of the recovery and reconstruction work," he said.

The chief minister also blamed the opposition UDF and BJP regarding the issue.

"The assistance is meant for the state, not just the LDF government. Everyone should stand for Kerala's cause, especially when other states are receiving support from the Centre. It's unacceptable that our repeated demands are being ignored," he said.

However, the CM acknowledged as a positive sign that all MPs from the state, except those from the BJP, have approached the Centre concerning Wayanad. PTI