Union Home Minister Amit Shah during the Budget Session of Parliament. | Photo Credit: ANI
The Center and Kerala crossed swords on Wednesday over early weather warnings for the State and disaster response after a landslide that claimed more than 200 lives and destroyed three villages in Vythithiri taluk of Wayanad district a day earlier.
In Parliament, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the Kerala government did not gauge the severity of the situation accurately even as the Center sent nine National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams to the State on July 23. read the warning, things will be different,” he said.
In Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan took issue with Mr Shah’s statement, asserting that the Center had sent the NDRF team at the request of the State government, due to the worsening monsoon, and not voluntarily. The state government is moving the NDRF units to Wayanad in advance, he said.
Responding to the Call Attention Motion in the Rajya Sabha, Mr. Shah said the Center issued its first warning on July 23 and repeated it in the next three days. Citing the examples of Odisha and Gujarat where “zero casualty disaster management” was being implemented, he asked why the Kerala government did not evacuate people from vulnerable areas.
“There are accusations, whether they are uninformed or ignorant, but I have to specify here through the House to the whole nation. They keep saying early warning, early warning… I want to specify that on July 23, the Kerala government was given an early warning by the government center,” said the Interior Minister.
“On July 26 (Kerala) it was reported that it rained more than 20 centimeters, there is a possibility of landslides, there may be mud and people died because they were buried under it. he continued, and proceeded to question the Kerala government. “Many questions are being asked to us. May I ask what the Kerala government is doing? Are illegals living there or not? Why are they not being evacuated?”
Responding to the Attention Call Motion in the Lok Sabha moved by Congress MP KC Venugopal, Mr. Shah assured the House that the Narendra Modi government stands like a “rock” with the Kerala government and the people of the state at this time of tragedy. He also promised all help from the Central government.
Three CPI(M) MPs in the Rajya Sabha from Kerala — John Brittas, AA Rahim and V. Sivadasan — then approached Speaker Jagdeep Dhankhar to demand that Mr. Shah clarify his statement. Separately, Mr. Sivadasan moved a privilege notice with the Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha alleging that Mr. Shah had misled the Upper House and action should be initiated against him for violating the privilege.
Addressing a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram, Mr Vijayan suggested that forecasts by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Geological Survey of India (GSI) and the Central Water Commission were very similar. “No agency had issued a red alert for Wayanad before the July 30 landslide,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that the IMD has given an orange signal to Wayanad. “Rainfall exceeded the initial warning. The area was never on alert before the disaster. However, after the incident, the agency issued a red alert at 6 a.m. (July 30) after the disaster,” he said.
He said the GSI issued a green alert for July 30 and 31, indicating a small landslide or rock burst. “But at that time, heavy rains had occurred, which caused landslides,” the CM said. “The Union Minister has given information in Parliament which is inconsistent with the facts.”
Mr. Vijayan, however, reiterated that now is not the time for blame games or political bickering. “The need of the hour is to speed up search, rescue and rehabilitation operations to alleviate the suffering of the disaster-affected population,” he said.
