The Opposition UDF on Tuesday took the LDF Government to task for what its leaders termed the "unnecessary delay" in the rehabilitation of the landslide affected people in Wayanad's Chooralmala and Mundakkai.

"It has been nearly eight months since the landslide struck, and you have not been able to draw up a fool-proof beneficiary list," Wayanad's Congress MLA T Siddique said, moving an adjournment motion on the issue in the Assembly on Tuesday, March 11. "Why did this delay happen? Were you able to take the local bodies and other parties into confidence," Siddique said. Opposition Leader V D Satheesan said it was surprising that the government could not draw up the list of beneficiaries even after seven months.

Earlier in the House, revenue minister K Rajan said that there were three lists. Phase I list, which includes families directly affected by the landslide. This list, the minister said, has 242 families. Phase II A list will include families whose houses have not been damaged but are within the 'no go zone' prescribed by the John Mathai committee. "This list has been drawn up, and complaints are now being heard. We are nearing the last stages," Rajan said. Phase II B list is for isolated families that live along the fringes of the 'no go zone'. "The draft list has been prepared, and the appeal process is on. It will soon be finalised," the revenue minister said.

Satheesan questioned the minister's claim that the Phase I list has been finalised. "The last date for hearing complaints related to this list is March 13," he said."

The Opposition Leader found the delay curious because he said that during the 2018 floods, the government had shown it could do considerably better. During the 2018 floods, Satheesan said the biggest losses were reported in Paravur, his constituency. "2,000 houses were fully destroyed. More than 3,000 were partially damaged. There were 22 schools that suffered severe structural defects, and over 500 farmers reported crop loss in their agricultural lands," Satheesan said. In comparison, the Opposition Leader said the damage was limited to just three wards in Wayanad. "Still, we finalised the beneficiary list within a month. It was not me who did it but the district administration under your government," he said.

Further, Satheesan said that the Phase I list, which the minister says is complete, was riddled with contradictions. He read out names of the affected people who had not found a place in the official beneficiary list drawn up by the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA): "Rasheed, Karuppayya, Sajan, Aliyarkutty... there are many names that have been left out. All are disaster-affected and are not in any of your three lists." He said there was also a glaring mismatch in the lists drawn up by grama panchayats and the DDMA.

Satheesan pointed out that, while drawing up the list, at least 10 per cent of those in the disaster-affected areas were asked to live in their old houses. "The government has barred entry beyond the Bailey bridge (over Punnapuzha) after 3 pm. This being the case imagine the plight families condemned to live in isolated vulnerable houses along the fringes of the disaster area," Satheesan said. "The list is a jumble of errors," he said.

Medical assistance for the survivors was the other issue flagged. Both Siddique and Satheesan said the survivors were paying out of their pockets. "Even the guidelines for continued medical assistance for the survivors were issued only in February, nearly seven months after the tragedy," Siddique said. He said only Rs 5 lakh had been set apart as medical assistance. "You spent Rs 125 lakh to secure the acquittal of the killers of Sarat Lal and Kripesh (two Youth Congress members allegedly killed by CPM workers)," Siddique said.

Rajan's was an emotional response. "Don't bother about the Rs 5 lakh. The continuous or emergency medical needs of the affected will be fully met by the government, whatever the cost is and as long they would require it," Rajan said.

Satheesan said there was no decision yet on educational assistance to carry forward the studies of students in the affected areas. "There is no money for the elderly even to buy medicines," he said. Siddique said the delay was so acute that the first financial support that reached the hands of the victims was the Rs 15,000 provided by the Indian Union Muslim League.

Satheesan said Kudumbashree had submitted a microplan to the state, suggesting separate rehabilitation methods for different kinds of survivors like orphaned children, single mothers, widows, and aged parents who have lost everyone else in the family. "You promised Rs 6.5 crore, but not a single rupee has been provided," Satheesan said.

He also questioned the government for discontinuing the daily bata of Rs 300 for the victim families after three months. Rajan cited central law as the reason. This seemed to provoke Muslim League leader P K Kunhalikuty. "We too have been in power. What prevented the cabinet from taking a decision to continue the daily bata," he said. Rajan said it would be continued for another nine months.