Modi visits disaster-struck Wayanad, promises help
PM Modi visited disaster-hit Kerala, pledging Union support for relief efforts after massive landslides killed 229 people in Wayanad, leaving 130 missing.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited disaster-stricken areas in Kerala on Saturday and promised all support from the Union government in relief and rehabilitation of the survivors, eleven days after two massive landslides pulverised densely populated settlements in Wayanad, killing at least 229 people and leaving 130 more missing.
Accompanied by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, governor Arif Mohammad Khan and Union minister of state (MoS) Suresh Gopi, the PM undertook an aerial survey of the devastated hamlets of Chooralmala, Mundakkai and Punchirimattom aboard an Indian Air Force chopper.
“This disaster is not normal. The dreams of several families have been crushed,” said Modi, speaking later at a meeting with the state’s top functionaries.
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Visuals showed the state chief secretary V Venu accompanying Modi as his helicopter flew over the grim landscape where in the early hours of July 30, a massive flow of earth, boulders and slush cascaded down the hill to flatten homes, schools, shops and religious structures.
Apart from the official fatality figure of 229, at least 198 incomplete body parts, most of which have not been identified, have been retrieved from under the rubble and from the nearby Chaliyar river.
Following the aerial survey, Modi, along with top officials, returned to the SKMJ school ground in Kalpetta, where he was received by state ministers PA Muhammad Riyas and K Rajan and local MLA T Siddique. He then proceeded by road to Chooralmala, one of the most-affected villages, where he was seen trekking through the area strewn with massive boulders, trunks of trees and damaged homes.
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The PM then spent at least 50 minutes walking through the most-affected sites, surveying the damage to the Government Higher Secondary School in Vellarmala and collecting information about the impact of the disaster from district collector DR Meghasree, state police ADGP MR Ajith Kumar and the chief secretary.
He also crossed the temporarily-constructed bailey bridge and interacted with army personnel who took part in the rescue operations.
Subsequently, PM Modi visited a relief camp set up at a government high school in Meppadi where he spoke with around 12 survivors of the disaster including children who had lost both parents.
Ayyappan, a Mundakkai resident who interacted with the PM, later told reporters, “I told the PM that I lost nine members of my family including my elder brother in the landslide. I conveyed only one request: a permanent home. He held my shoulders and said that the country stands with us. I am hopeful that the Centre will grant a special relief package for Wayanad.”
The PM then proceeded to the Aster Wayanad Speciality Hospital where he interacted with some of the injured, followed by a review meeting that he chaired at the district collectorate in Kalpetta.
The CM, governor Khan, MoS Gopi, state ministers, bureaucrats and MLAs were among those who attended the meeting.
At the meeting, Modi said: “I have seen the impact (of the landslide) there and I spoke with the survivors who saw the disaster unfold in front of them. The results of our collective work was on display on the first day itself when I told the chief minister that we will try to mobilise all resources to the disaster site. I also sent our MoS there as soon as we heard the news.”
He described how he had seen the similar impact of a natural disaster in 1979 during the collapse of the Machchu dam in Morbi, Gujarat. “When the dam collapsed due to heavy rain, water filled the town of Morbi, inundating hundreds of homes. Around 2,500 people died. I worked as a volunteer there at the time for up to six months and I have seen homes filled with mud and slush. I can imagine how tough the circumstances must have been for people (here) to battle the mud and survive,” he said.
Modi underscored the need to stand with survivors and ensure their long-term rehabilitation, and said he has asked the state government to send a detailed memorandum on the impact of the disaster. “As soon as the memorandum comes, we will consider it generously to find solutions to all the problems. The Centre will stand with the Kerala government. I can promise that the rehabilitation works will not be suspended in the absence of funds,” he added.
In a statement, CM Vijayan said he requested the PM to declare the landslide as a ‘calamity of severe nature’, provide financial aid for the rehabilitation of survivors and assist the state in battling long-term climate change challenges.
On Friday, the state government conveyed to a central team that visited Wayanad that at least ₹2,000 crore would be needed for rehabilitation efforts.
“A detailed assessment of the damages is underway. The prima facie assessment is that the damages are worth thousands of crores. The state will submit a detailed petition to the central government in this regard later,” he said.
Vijayan said the pre-monsoon heat wave in the state and the landslide in Wayanad were the result of the climate crisis as he urged Modi PM to open special centres and regional offices with advanced studies of agencies like Geological Survey of India (GSI), India Meteorological Department (IMD) and Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS).
“Modern systems need to be put in place for weather monitoring. High resolution hazard assessment tools, land use planning maps and digital elevation model based on LiDAR can be used for that,” the CM said.
The PM left by chopper from Kalpetta for Kannur airport shortly around 5 pm and departed for Delhi later by Air India One.