Kerala is paying the price of ‘casual approach’: V Muraleedharan

New Delhi: Even as the magnitude of landslide in Wayanad is still unfolding, it seems political bickering has started with BJP leader V Muraleedharan Wednesday saying Kerala is paying the price of Pinarayi Vijayan administration’s ‘casual approach’.

V Muraleedharan’s criticism follows Home Minister Amit Shah’s remark in Parliament that Kerala was warned as early as July 23 about a potential natural calamity in Wayanad from heavy rains.

More than 250 people are reported to be dead as of now and around 200 are still missing after huge chunks of a hill washed down on houses and streets on Tuesday night in two locations in the district.

V Muraleedharan told news agency ANI: "Home Minister Amit Shah in the Rajya Sabha very specifically mentioned that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government stands with the people of Kerala like a rock and there can be no doubt about that."

"Amit Shah also said that had the Kerala government worked with alertness when the NDRF battalions landed, that would have saved a lot. He said that he doesn't want to blame anyone, but at the same time, he put the facts before the house, saying that on July 23, 24, 25 and 26 of July, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued warnings and asked the state government to be prepared and initiate the evacuation of people, but the Kerala government didn't heed the warning messagesm," he was quoted as saying.

Muralidharan said that several agencies including the Kerala disaster management authority warned about an impending tragedy and advised shifting 4,000 families from the area.

‘The village of Mundakkai, which has now been affected by the landslide, was identified as one of the 18 landslide-prone places in the district disaster management plan. But the state government did not pay heed to it and now Kerala is paying the price because of the casual approach of the state government," Muraleedharan reportedly said.

He pointed out that despite it is identified as ecologically sensitive there are more than 300 illegal construction projects in the area.

‘No action has been taken to remove those,’ he said.Refuting Amit Shah’s assertion in Parliament, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan said ‘This is not the time to blame each other. However, reports from the Rajya Sabha indicate that the Union Home Minister claimed they had issued a warning, and Kerala did not respond appropriately.’

Vijayan stated that Wayanad received over 500 millimetres of rainfall, far exceeding than the predictions by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and IMD issued only an orange alert prior to the landslide.