New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah has been urged by Congress Shashi Tharoor, a member of parliament from Thiruvananthapuram, to declare the landslides in Kerala's Wayanad district a "calamity of serious nature."
In a letter to the Home Minister on Wednesday, Tharoor, who is also the Chairman of the Chemicals and Fertiliser Committee of Parliament, stated that if it is deemed a serious calamity, MPs will be able to recommend up to Rs 1 crore in works for the affected areas from their MPLAD money.
He said that the said move would surely be invaluable in supporting the painstaking efforts for rescue, relief and rehabilitation.
A series of devastating landslides struck the Wayanad district of Kerala, claiming over a hundred lives and leaving many more severely injured in hospitals, his letter read.
He said, "This disaster of unimaginable proportions has left behind a harrowing tale of death and destruction. The rescue operations involving the armed forces, the Coast Guard, the National Disaster Response Force and other agencies continue their pitched battle against the vagaries of nature.
"The landslides have wreaked havoc upon countless lives and as such, it is of grave importance to extend all possible support to the people of Wayanad. Such is the scale of the disaster that it necessitates a coordinated and generous response from all sections of the society," the Thiruvananthapuram MP said.
The death toll in the Wayanad landslide tragedy has reached 264 while around 200 people are still missing, officials said.
With inputs from IANS