Wayanad landslide: No information on central aid, says Kerala govt

Thiruvananthapuram: Stepping up its attack on the union government over the lack of assistance for the landslide survivors of Wayanad, the Kerala government on Sunday said it was yet to get any information regarding the amount to be allotted to the state for their relief and rehabilitation.

The Left government reminded that the state and the Centre were not enemy nations, but part of the same Constitution and requested the Centre to act as a "guardian angel" during the time of tragedies.

Revenue Minister K Rajan said the state government has submitted all the details in connection with the landslide and the union government has not notified it so far if there was any mistake in the figures provided by them.

The figures of the loss suffered during the landslide had to be submitted by the state initially and it was done without any fail, he told reporters here.

Later, the state had submitted the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) in accordance with the norms.

There was also no information about the amount to be allotted to the state for the relief and rehabilitation of landslide victims till date, he said.

"Kerala and the Centre are not enemy nations but part of the same Constitution." To buttress his point, the minister also recalled a recent observation made by the Supreme Court while considering another case.

"The apex court had said that when tragedy strikes a state, the Centre should behave like a guardian angel towards it. Our request is that the union government should be ready to behave like that," the minister said.

He also urged the Congress-led UDF opposition in the state to stand united cutting across their political difference to secure the deserved central assistance for the landslide survivors of Wayanad.

Both the ruling CPI (M)- led LDF and the opposition Congress-led UDF have been demanding the BJP-led union government to declare the landslide calamity as a national disaster and provide required assistance for the relief and rehabilitation of the survivors at the earliest.

The state recently witnessed an intense political row following the Centre's recent letter to the state government stating that under the existing guidelines of SDRF and NDRF, there is no provision to declare any calamity a 'national disaster".

The disaster, which struck on July 30, devastated large parts of three villages --Punchirimattam, Chooralmala, and Mundakkai--along with sections of Attamala in Wayanad.

As per the government, the deadly disaster claimed 231 lives, while 47 people are still missing.