Thiruvananthapuram: The rehabilitation in Wayanad after the landslide was delayed due to lapses on the part of the Pinarayi Vijayan-led state government, said BJP state president K Surendran at the party meeting held here on Saturday. Although the Centre allocated Rs 860 crores to the treasury, the Chief Minister did not provide the survivors with sufficient funds to cover even their rent.

"The state government should publicly apologize now that it's been proven false that the Centre neglected Wayanad's disaster management. The documents submitted by the Centre in the High Court dealt a blow to the Pinarayi government. Both the government and the opposition exploited the Wayanad disaster for electoral gains by deceiving the people," he said. 

K Surendran said the state government submitted the Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) report to the centre on November 13, coinciding with the Wayanad and Chelakkara by-elections. However, the Left claimed that the report had been submitted earlier. The Congress party backed this contention without being fully aware of the matter.

Surendran added that the state government concealed that the Centre allocated Rs 150 crores out of the Rs 214 crores the state had asked for emergency financial assistance. He also noted that half of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) was earmarked just for Wayanad.

The BJP state president said that the Centre allocated money to reimburse the actual expenses incurred for airlifting and debris removal. "It is certain that the central government will provide proper assistance to Wayanad after scrutinising the state's PDNA report. The government should be transparent with people about how much money has been allocated for Wayanad from the SDRF fund and the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF). The LDF and the UDF staged a hartal without warning and inconvenienced people. Both the fronts have run a fake campaign against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is ready to help Kerala," Surendran said.