Centre's inaction on Wayanad: LDF to hold statewide protest on Dec 5

Thiruvananthapuram: The Left Democratic Front (LDF), the ruling coalition in Kerala, will organise a statewide protest against the central government over its negligence regarding the landslide-hit Wayanad. The LDF has decided to hold a protest march to Raj Bhavan and demonstrations at district centers on December 5. The decision was made at a meeting held on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Kerala High Court criticised both the LDF and UDF for their dawn-to-dusk hartal in Wayanad on November 19. A division bench of Justices AK Jayasankaran Nambiar and KV Jayakumar called the hartal 'unacceptable.'

The court questioned how the hartal could be justified and asked why the ruling LDF chose this method. It also inquired whether a hartal was the only way to protest and expressed disappointment over the decision to hold it in an area where a major disaster had occurred. The LDF and UDF organized the hartal as a protest against the lack of central assistance for the landslide victims in the mountain district, even months after the disaster. Both the ruling and opposition parties had called for the BJP-led central government to declare the landslide calamity a national disaster and provide the necessary assistance for the relief and rehabilitation of survivors at the earliest.

The observations came during the hearing of a plea initiated by the High Court for the prevention and management of natural disasters in the state, following the landslides that devastated three villages in Wayanad district and claimed over 200 lives.

Meanwhile, the central government informed the court that the process of providing assistance for rehabilitation and relief efforts was ongoing. It stated that Rs 153 crore had already been allocated from the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) to the state for emergency relief operations in the disaster-hit areas. The state government has estimated a loss of Rs 2,219 crore due to the disaster.

The state has been witnessing widespread protests over the central government's inaction on Wayanad. On Friday morning, DYFI activists besieged the BSNL office in Kalpetta to protest against the BJP-led central government. The protesters closed the office gates at 7:30 am. Later, police arrested the DYFI activists and cleared the office and its premises.
At the same time, landslide victims, led by the CPM, have continued their Satyagraha, urging the central government to take immediate action and end its apathy toward them.