THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The cost estimate in the state government’s memorandum to the Union government on the Wayanad landslide was not inflated. Instead, it was prepared to obtain maximum assistance, said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. He harshly criticised the Opposition and the media for misinterpreting the estimate and thereby defaming the people and government. The state government is yet to receive any assistance from the Centre, he added.
Addressing media persons here on Saturday, the CM said the memorandum was prepared by trained professionals as per the SDRF norms. The SDRF has “narrow conditions” and hence the government can claim only Rs 219 crore whereas the estimated actual losses at the time of estimate preparation are over Rs 1,200 crore. As per the view of experts, reconstruction of the disaster-affected area costs at least Rs 2,200 crore.
State government officers had consulted with the Union government team that visited the state on August 9. The memorandum was prepared as per their advice and submitted on August 17. The State Disaster Management Authority relied on data until August 14 for estimate preparation.
The Union government has issued guidelines on the spending from SDRF. The money can be spent in two ways - either through the pre-fixed unit cost or as actual expenses. The maximum compensation from SDRF for loss of housing is Rs 1.3 lakh, Rs one lakh for one-km road construction and Rs 2 lakh for constructing a school.
These amounts are quite insufficient. The state government provides Rs 4 lakh for housing wherein the balance amount is met from the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund. As per the SDRF norms, only a paltry sum can be claimed and experience shows that it will not be sanctioned on time. The state government prepared the memorandum as per the laid-out conditions. The malicious campaign against the memorandum can only be viewed as an attack against the disaster victims. Expenses under certain heads can be reimbursed in full as per the SDRF norms.
They include rescue operations, camp management, removal of debris, drinking water distribution, etc. These expenses are to be sanctioned from the SDRF as such. Those who misinterpreted the memorandum claimed that the actuals in the memorandum were about the money spent already. The government did not have actual bills at the time of preparation of the memorandum, the CM said.
At that time, the available option was to submit a projected amount on the basis of the estimated rescue works left. This amount could be high or low. In the case of flood rescue efforts in 2018, the Air Force sent a bill of Rs 102 crore in February 2019. The state government has the responsibility to pay it from the SDRF. The Centre gave a bill for the rice distributed during the flood, Rs 205.81 crore, in 2019.
Similarly, the bills for rescue efforts at Meppadi, like the expenses for the armed forces and expenses for the modern equipment they used, will be received later. Those bills are to be honoured by the SDRF. The memorandum was prepared in view of all these facts.
The Centre had not provided any assistance so far, the CM said. The CM wondered whether the media aided people who wanted to block Central assistance to the state. He said the situation called for legal action against the media who spread false news on the estimate.
