Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday said that union Home Minister Amit Shah had once again misled the Parliament and the country on Kerala's response to the Mundakkai-Chooralmala landslides.

If earlier it was Shah's assertion that the Centre had sounded an early landslide warning and still Kerala did not act upon it, this time it was the Home Minister’s remark that Kerala had inordinately delayed its Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) report.  "The first we debunked with proof. The Centre had given us no early warning," the Chief Minister told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram. "The second is nothing but an extension of the earlier lie," he said. 

The Chief Minister termed the union Home Minister's remark that Kerala had delayed the submission of the PDNA report as "bizarre". 

Was the assessment report delayed?
"It would take at least three months to prepare the PDNA," the CM said. He said states like Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, where natural disasters had struck in 2023, had taken more than three months to draw up their PDNA. 

Besides, the CM said that the PDNA preparation could begin only after taking care of the rescue and rehabilitation measures. "Completing the rehabilitation is the first priority," the CM said. "Still we took the least time to submit the PDNA report," he said. The 583-page report was submitted to the Centre on November 13, and it had estimated Rs 2221 crore as reconstruction cost for Meppadi village, and Rs 98.10 crore for Vilangad.

The Assessment report is prepared after three elaborate, time-consuming processes. One, estimation of disaster effects: this includes baseline data collection, field visits and surveys, estimation of damage and production losses, and aggregation of damage and production losses. Two, estimation of disaster impact: this includes macro-economic impact analysis, macro-social impact analysis and personal/household impact analysis. Three, estimation of post-disaster needs: this includes recovery and reconstruction needs.

Was Centre aware of Kerala’s needs?
However, the Chief Minister said that a preliminary assessment of Kerala's needs were presented to Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he visited the landslide-ravaged regions on August 10. Later, on August 17, Kerala presented a memorandum to the centre asking for a preliminary assistance of Rs 1202 crore based on National Disaster response Force (NDRF) guidelines. 

The memorandum had placed three demands. One, the Meppadi disaster should be declared as a 'Disaster of Severe Nature'. "If such a declaration was made, Kerala could have secured funds from various international agencies. It could also have obligated the Centre to provide special funds for Kerala. It would also have enabled MPs to set apart up to Rs one crore from MPLADS (Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme)," the CM said.

Two, write off the loans of the landslide-affected families. Three, sanction immediate assistance from NDRF.  "Now, it's been over 100 days since the PM visited Wayanad. It has been over three months since we submitted the initial memorandum. None of our demands have been met. In between, many other states were provided assistance even without asking. But there has not been a single paise for Kerala as special assistance," the Chief Minister said.

He said that it was the same Centre that had sanctioned Rs 40 crore for Tripura, Rs 3448 crore for Andhra Pradesh and telengana, and Rs 11,500 crore for Bihar that was now deliberately ignoring Kerala's needs. 

Is there enough funds in SDRF?
According to the Finance Commission guidelines, the money in State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) is a general purpose fund. "It is not specific to Wayanad, and its stipulations are not designed for major tragedies" Pinarayi said. 

He said on average, Kerala spends Rs 400 crore annually from the SDRF for small and big disasters in Kerala. The SDRF relief, based on rigorous conditions, is meagre. For instance, the SDRF parts with just Rs 1.25 lakh for a new house. "In Wayanad, the state government wants to construct Rs-10-lakh houses in a new township. Such a reconstruction effort cannot be carried out with SDRF support. That is why we asked for special assistance," the CM said. 

He said funds were already disbursed to victims in Meppadi from the SDRF. "Considering the rigorous nature of the conditions, the amount will not be more than Rs 20 crore," the CM said.

Are Kerala's SDRF accounts dependable?
On December 7, the High Court pulled up the Kerala government for not making available accurate SDRF figures. 

The Chief Minister said that it was not for want of data. "It was just that it was not readily available. The data regarding Kerala's SDRF commitments had to be sourced from various departments and districts. It will take time. We have informed the court, and the court has given us time," the Chief Minister said.

He said that at the time of the disaster, the balance in the SDRF kitty was Rs 588.95 crore. Already, Rs 394.95 crore was in the SDRF. After the disaster, the Centre sanctioned Kerala's share of Rs 145.60 crore. Together, the balance was Rs 588.95 crore.