Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday refuted Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s claim that early weather warnings were issued to the state government ahead of the heavy rainfall which caused devastating landslides, killing scores of people.
Replying to a discussion on the Calling Attention Motion in the Lok Sabha, Amit Shah claimed that the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued warnings about heavy rainfall in Kerala at least a week before the landslides occurred and that eight teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were deployed on July 23. Shah said, “On July 18, it was forecast that Kerala’s western coast would experience above-normal rainfall. On July 25, it was forecast that there would be heavy rain. On July 23 itself, eight teams of the NDRF were sent to the region.”
CM Pinarayi Vijayan pointed out that despite the IMD’s warnings, no red alerts had been sounded for Wayanad ahead of the landslides. The district, which received over 500 millimetres of rainfall, experienced far more severe weather than predicted, the chief minister said. According to Vijayan, the IMD had only issued an orange alert, indicating rainfall between 6 cm and 20 cm, whereas a red alert, which signals extremely heavy rain over 20 cm in 24 hours, was not declared. “A red alert was issued for the district only after the landslides hit there on Tuesday morning,” Vijayan said at a press conference.
The chief minister also emphasized that this was not the time for a “blame game” and that he was not taking Shah’s remarks in an adversarial manner. Providing an update on the search and rescue operation, Vijayan said 1,592 people have been rescued so far and 82 relief camps have been set up in the Wayanad district, accommodating 2,017 individuals. “The cabinet meeting evaluated the situation. We are relocating tribal families and providing food to those who are not ready to move,” the chief minister said. “Today, an additional 132 army personnel have arrived to support the rescue efforts. Two helicopters are also being utilized for the rescue operations. Post-mortems were conducted both yesterday and last night,” he added.
