'Kerala Given Early Warning': Amit Shah Responds On Wayanad Landslides In Parliament; CM Vijayan Contradicts

Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said the Kerala government was warned last week regarding a possible natural calamity in Kerala’s Wayanad due to heavy rainfall and nine NDRF teams were rushed to the state the same day.

While speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Shah claimed that the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government was warned by the Centre a week before the landslides hit the hilly district, but it did not heed to the early warning and also did not get alerted even by arrival of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) battalions

He also expressed condolence on the loss of lives in the tragic landslides in  Wayanad and slammed the opposition for doing politics over the issue.

“My condolences to the bereaved families… I want to clarify something for the country… They kept on talking about early warning. I want to clarify that on July 23, the government of India gave an early warning to the government of Kerala, which was 7 days before the incident, and then on July 24 and 25 too early warning was given. On July 26, a warning was given that there was a chance of heavy rainfall of more than 20 cm, and there were chances of landslides, there could be mudflow and people could lose lives in this. Questions are being raised about the early warning system of the government… The government has spent Rs. 2000 crores after 2014 for the early warning system…” he said.

He further questioned the Kerala government saying that what precautionary measures did the state government take when the centre cautioned about the potential landslides about a week ago.

“… Under this early warning system, on July 23, at my direction, 9 NDRF teams were sent to Kerala considering that there could be landslides… What did the Kerala government do? Were the people shifted? And if they were shifted then how did they die?… The project of early warning started in 2016 and by 2023, India had the most modern early warning system… There are only 4 countries to predict 7 days in advance and India is one amongst them…” he said.

Intervening in the short duration calling attention motion on the Wayanad landslide tragedy in the Upper House, Shah also assured help and support of the Centre to the state and the people to deal with the situation.

“Early warning was given, that is why on July 23, we sent 9 teams of NDRF and three more were sent yesterday. Had they become alert the day the NDRF teams landed, a lot could have been saved. But this is the time to stand with the government and the people of Kerala. Irrespective of the party politics, Narendra Modi government will stand with the people of Kerala…” he said.

Kerala CM Refutes Amit Shah’s Claim

A day after the Wayanad landslide claimed the lives of several people, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday refuted Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s claim that the state government was warned earlier on July 23 regarding a possible natural calamity in the district due to heavy rains.

While addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Vijayan said, “A red alert was issued for the district only after the landslides hit there on Tuesday morning,” .

The CM further said that this was not the time for “blame game” and that he was not taking Shah’s remarks in an adversarial manner.

Meanwhile, Union Minister George Kurian said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is closely monitoring the landslide situation in Wayanad.

“The situation is being monitored by the central government at the highest level. The Honourable Prime Minister is monitoring the situation and has deputed me to visit the affected areas. Both control rooms of the Ministry of Home Affairs are monitoring the situation 24×7 and providing all possible assistance to the state,” he said.

Massive landslides hit hilly areas in Kerala’s Wayanad district early on Tuesday resulting in at least 158 fatalities and hundreds of injuries. The Army is working in close coordination with the NDRF and other agencies to carry out rescue operations in the affected areas.

Search and rescue operations are in progress at the landslide-affected Chooralmala area in Wayanad. At present, 1,200 rescue workers from the Indian Army, DSC Centre, Territorial Army, NDRF, Indian Navy, and IAF are actively involved on the ground.

Four columns from the Defence Security Corps (DSC) Centre, Kannur, and 122 TA Battalion are conducting combined rescue operations along with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and state rescue teams, a senior Army official said.

Replying to the calling attention motion, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai informed the House that 133 bodies have been recovered so far.