THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Union government on Monday declared the Wayanad landslide a disaster of ‘severe nature’ for all practical purposes, exactly five months after the disaster claimed 254 lives and left 128 missing.
Rajesh Gupta, a joint secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, conveyed the decision to Tinku Biswal, principal secretary of revenue and disaster management, Kerala government.
However, there is no mention of any special fund for the state. The classification would help the state to source funds, including the local area development funds of MPs, for the rehabilitation efforts.
The state has been putting pressure on the Centre to declare the landslide a disaster of ‘severe nature’ due to the scale of the impact. The state also sought the Centre to waive off loans of the disaster-affected people using the power under national disaster management authority and to issue additional financial aid.
The state government estimated the loss in the disaster at Rs 1,202 crore and requested Rs 2,262 crore for the rehabilitation package.
The letter issued by the Union Home Ministry on Monday pointed out that in the event of disaster of a ‘severe nature’, financial assistance towards the notified natural disasters including landslide can be met from State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) already placed at the state’s disposal.
However, the revenue department officials said that provisions of SDRF/NDRF funds are not suitable for the large-scale rehabilitation required for Wayanad. Earlier, the Ministry of Home Affairs informed MP John Brittas in Rajya Sabha that Rs 214.68 crore sought by the state as a temporary emergency fund could not be provided due to technicalities in supplementing the SDRF.