Wayanad landslides: Opposition extends support to Kerala govt; UDF MLAs to contribute one month salary to CMDRF

Kochi: Extending its full cooperation to the state government to rebuild landslide-ravaged Wayanad, the opposition Congress-led UDF in Kerala on Sunday announced that all its MLAs will contribute one month's salary to the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF).

Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan on Sunday said the UDF will take part in all the rehabilitation efforts and work towards restoring normalcy in the lives of the survivors.

Apart from the 100 houses offered to be built by the Congress, as announced by Rahul Gandhi, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), a major ally of the party in the UDF, has also announced rehabilitation packages.

Earlier, the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) had announced that its members in the assembly and Parliament will contribute their one month's salary to the CMDRF. The decision of the Opposition UDF assumes significance as the issue of making donations to the CMDRF had created a ripple within the Congress yesterday.

Senior party leader Ramesh Chennithala had yesterday announced that he would donate to it one month's salary, which he draws as an MLA and this statement drew a sharp reaction from his party colleague and KPCC chief K Sudhakaran, who expressed displeasure saying there is no need to give money to funds managed by the CPI(M)-led Left government.

Sudhakaran's statement came amidst online smear campaigns discouraging people from sending funds to the CMDRF.

Talking to the media here on Sunday, Satheesan said special attention should be given to those who have lost their livelihood and those who have become orphans.

"It should also be considered whether those who are being shifted back to their houses can survive or not. Normalcy should be restored in everyone's life," Satheesan added.

The Congress leader urged the government to consider ways to prevent such disasters in the future.

"In 2019, we had mentioned in the assembly to map the landslide-prone regions and coordinate with all the weather agencies and to set up rain gauges. We need to rope in experts from Cochin University," Satheesan said.

Along with the rehabilitation efforts, all technological assistance available in the world should be used to set up a warning mechanism, he said.

There should also be a proper plan to evacuate people within a short period after a warning is issued, he added.

"The opposition has a definite plan. We had sought for a policy change as per (to mitigate the effects of) climate change. And that's why we opposed K-Rail and now the coastal highway. We are ready to submit our plans before the government," Satheesan said.

He said that local residents had complained on July 29 that the colour of the river had changed due to something that had happened upstream. "Based on this, the panchayat had shifted many people from there. We need to bring together such traditional knowledge along with modern technology," Satheesan added.

According to the district administration, till Saturday night, 219 bodies and over 143 body parts were recovered, and 206 persons were still missing.