KOZHIKODE: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that the state government has requested the prime minister for financial help to rehabilitate the landslide survivors in Wayanad and to address the issue of climate change.
In a press release, Pinarayi said a note in this regard was handed over to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Wayanad on Saturday. “The extent of the damage is being assessed. The initial information is that destruction worth thousands of crores has been sustained in the landslide. A detailed report will be submitted to the Centre later,” he said.
Kerala has started experiencing impacts of global warming and climate change and the state needs to be prepared to meet the challenges. Regional offices and special centres of the Geological Survey of India, India Meteorological Department, National Seismic Centre and Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services should be set up in the state, said the CM.
He said that the Centre’s aid is pivotal in augmenting the functioning of the Institute of Climate Change Studies, which was set up at Kottayam in 2015. He also requested Modi to declare the landslide as a national disaster at the earliest.