The Assembly on Monday unanimously passed a motion urging the Union Government to take two immediate decisions for the victims of the Wayanad landslide disaster: One, release the financial assistance the Kerala government had sought in its memorandum, as the delay in sanctioning funds was adversely affecting the rehabilitation process. Two, invoke its power under the National Disaster Management Act and write off the victims' loans.
The unanimous motion was the upshot of an adjournment motion moved by the UDF on the need to speed up rehabilitation measures in Mundakkai and Chooralmala and to secure immediate assistance from the Centre. There was a general consensus in the House that the Centre should not be allowed to remain indifferent to Kerala's needs.
"An entire area has been destroyed. This landslide should be recorded as one of the worst in the country's history," the motion said. "Kerala has sought from the Centre just the legitimate financial support required for the inevitable rehabilitation and reconstruction of an area devastated by a disaster of unprecedented proportions," the motion said.
It said that the Kerala government had placed its needs before Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he visited Wayanad and also subsequently.
During the discussion, Revenue Minister K Rajan made a sarcastic comment about the Prime Minister's empathetic gestures during his Wayanad visit. "When the PM was here, it was with great emotional depth that he spoke of the 1979 Gujarat floods during which he was part of an RSS rescue and relief team. The way he wiped his eyes at the thought of the 1979 tragedy, I thought it would not take even ten days for the assistance to reach us," Rajan said.
The motion passed unanimously in the Kerala Assembly said that "till date Kerala has not received any assistance."
It said the Meppadi landslide fell under the "Disaster of Severe Nature" category as per the National Disaster Management Act. "Other disaster-affected states have been assisted even without a memorandum. Unfortunately, Kerala has not received such a consideration," the motion said.
Earlier, while participating in the discussion, Opposition Leader V D Satheesan used strong words against the Centre. "What kind of neglect is this? We have not been offered even temporary relief. What gives the Centre the courage to ignore Kerala deliberately," Satheesan said. "I think it is time for us to apply greater pressure and move beyond the usual means of presenting memoranda," the Opposition Leader said.
Further, the motion said that under section 13 of the National Disaster Management Act, 2005, the National Disaster Management Authority had the power to write off the loans of the victims of disasters of a severe nature. "The Centre should take immediate steps to invoke this power for the victims of the Chooralmala and Mundakkai landslides," the motion said.
