Wayanad landslides: PM Modi to visit disaster-hit areas on Aug 10, says CM Vijayan

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting the landslides-hit areas of Wayanad on August 10 and hoped that the PM will take a positive stand with regard to providing Central assistance for rehabilitation of the disaster victims.

Vijayan, at a press conference here, said Modi’s visit to Wayanad on Saturday comes amidst the state government’s request to treat the landslides as a ‘national or severe disaster’.

He further said that following the state’s request, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has appointed a nine-member committee to examine the severity of the disaster and submit a report in this regard.

Vijayan said that the state hopes to receive a comprehensive rehabilitation package and, so far, the Central government has been very cooperative and helpful.

“Considering the seriousness of the disaster, it is hoped that assistance will be available from the Central government to help the families of the disaster victims and for the rehabilitation and township projects.

“It is hoped that there will be a favourable decision from Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard. We have already written to him on the issue and thanked him for the help and support provided till now,” the CM said.

Vijayan, during the press conference, also said that the exact number of people who died in the landslides can be confirmed only after the DNA test results of the body parts and unidentified bodies are received.

He said that remains are only considered a full body if 90 per cent or more of the body parts are recovered. Otherwise, it is considered as a body part only, he added.

Therefore, it is scientifically incorrect to count the number of body parts recovered as the number of dead, the CM said and added that the search operations are not complete. Currently, 131 people are missing, he further said.

From Friday onwards, survivors living in relief camps and homes of their relatives will also take part in the search operations in the disaster-hit Mundakkai and Chooralmala areas, which have been divided into six zones, the CM said.

These people are being made part of the search operations as a “last ditch effort” to find people who are still missing as all other possible means have been exhausted, Vijayan said.

In his press conference, he also referred to the donations flowing into the Chief Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund (CMDRF) from various quarters and thanked all who have contributed to the fund.

The landslides that hit various hilly areas of Wayanad on July 30 have claimed hundreds of lives till now.