The Union government has recognised the recent landslide in Kerala’s Wayanad as a disaster of “severe nature”. The announcement came on Wednesday, December 4, when Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai responded to a query by Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala. In his reply, he also said that the state conducted a Post-Disaster-Needs-Assessment (PDNA) and estimated a total requirement of Rs 2,219 crores for recovery and reconstruction, of which Rs 444.67 crores has been granted.
MP Randeep asked for the details of the number of people who died, were injured, became permanently disabled, and are missing in what was the deadliest landslide in Kerala’s history. He also enquired about the amount incurred in compensation to the kin of the deceased and injured, along with details of any pending compensation, the number of people permanently and temporarily rehabilitated to date, assistance granted to Kerala for the rehabilitation of victims, and details of the funds requested and granted to the state under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).
The Ministry maintained that the data on the losses caused due to natural calamities is not kept centrally and added that the Kerala state government, by way of a memorandum, reported that 359 persons were dead/missing, 95 persons suffered disability more than 40%, and 378 injured persons hospitalised in the tragedy.
Regarding the fund allocation, the Minister said that according to the National Policy on Disaster Management (NPDM), the primary responsibility for disaster management including disbursal of relief assistance is of the state government and that the Union government provides required logistics and financial support. The financial assistance provided by the Union government under SDRF and NDRF is by way of relief and not for compensation, he added.
Minister Nityanand further added that an amount of Rs 388 crore has been allocated to the state government for the financial year 2024-25 in SDRF– this comprises Rs 291.20 crore from the central share – which was released in two instalments in July 2024 and October 2024 and Rs 96.80 crore from the state share. In addition, he also said that the accountant general of Kerala reported a balance of Rs 394.99 crore in its SDRF account as of April 1, 2024. “Thus, sufficient funds of Rs. 782.99 crore are available in the SDRF account of the State for the relief operations,” he said.
Stating that an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) was constituted by the Union government to assess the damage caused by Wayanad landslides, Minister Nityanand said that IMCT visited the affected areas and adjudged it to be 'severe'. “The State Government submitted its memorandum… seeking an additional assistance of Rs 214.68 crore under NDRF, including Rs 36 crore for estimated removal of debris. Based on the report of the IMCT, the High-Level Committee (HLC)... approved an amount of Rs 153.47 crore (subject to the adjustment of 50% of balance available in the SDRF account), assistance for the Air bills of Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters for rescue & relief, as per actual, and actual expenditure for the clearance of debris,” he added.
Meanwhile, the MPs from Kerala, led by Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi, met Home Minister Amit Shah and sought the release of funds by the Union government for rehabilitating the landslide victims. The MPs had also insisted that the victims should be provided funds immediately. After the meeting, Priyanka spoke to reporters and said, “In such circumstances, if the Union government cannot step up, then it sends a very bad message to the entire country and especially to the victims. The Home Minister listened to us kindly. I have appealed to him that we should rise above politics and fully recognise the pain and suffering that these people went through.”