THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala has sought a comprehensive rehabilitation package from the Union government for the victims of the Wayanad landslides, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Thursday, adding that the response from the Centre has been favourable so far.
“We hope the Centre will extend support to help the affected families, their rehabilitation and in establishing a township for them,” he told reporters. The CM said he hopes that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is visiting Wayanad on Saturday, will take a favourable stand on the state’s requests. He said Kerala has also asked the Centre to declare the calamity as one of “rare severity” nature.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has appointed a nine-member team to submit a report on the state’s request, Pinarayi said, adding that MHA joint secretary Rajeev Kumar, the team leader, met him on Thursday. “Search operations are continuing. On Friday, the search at Mundakkai and Chooralmala will see people’s participation. The victims will be taken to the search areas, and can join the officials in the operations, which would be conducted in six zones,” he said.
This is final round of search, says CM Pinarayi
This is a final round of search based on inputs from the relatives of the missing victims, Pinarayi said.
Latest government data put the landslide toll at 225. As many as 148 bodies and 30 body parts were recovered from Meppadi, while 77 bodies and 165 body parts were recovered from Nilambur. A recovery is being deemed a body if it has 90% or more parts. Else, it is being deemed a body part, the CM said.
“There are chances of recovering the same person’s body parts from different areas. Samples of all body parts and bodies have been sent for DNA test. The exact number of recovered bodies can be ascertained only after receiving the results,” Pinarayi said. Names and details of 131 missing persons were published by the government.
Fourteen relief camps, housing 641 families, are functioning at Meppadi. Of the 1,942 inmates, 735 are males, 743 are females and 464 are children. Efforts are on for the temporary rehabilitation of the victims, and 91 government quarters have been identified, the CM said.
Pinarayi also thanked the 391-member Army team led by Major General V T Mathew that returned on Thursday after a “praiseworthy rescue operation”. The Bailey bridge built by the Military Engineering Group played a significant role in the rescue operations. Ministers camping in the district gave a farewell to the Army team.