New Delhi: The Kerala government is likely to ask the Union government for an assistance of almost Rs 900 crore to rehabilitate survivors of the Wayanad landslides, according to a report by The Hindu. The Wire has confirmed this with its sources.
As per recent reports, the state government has already begun disbursing compensation to the next-of-kin of those who died in the landslides.
On August 23, the Kerala high court came down heavily on banks collecting EMIs from compensation awarded to survivors of the landslides.
Meanwhile, a five-member team of experts has also given recommendations on possible locations for townships for the survivors.
Kerala may ask for Rs 900 crore in Union aid
Multiple landslides that occurred in the wee hours of July 30 in Meppadi panchayat in Wayanad district buried entire neighbourhoods of villages, including Mundakkai and Chooralmala, under slush and debris.
According to the last official estimates, at least 224 people died; more than 100 are still missing, and rescue personnel retrieved more than 200 body parts from downstream of the rivers flowing through these areas, as well as from along their banks.
At one point, a total of 729 families were living in relief camps in Wayanad. As per the latest reports, only 219 families are still living in relief camps – others have moved into rented accommodations or with family members.
The state has pegged the material losses caused by the landslides at Rs 281 crore based on guidelines laid down by the State Disaster Response Fund, as per a report by The Hindu. According to the report – which does not name the “state government sources” it got this information from – Kerala may require at least Rs 600 crore for the development of a township and allied facilities for rehabilitation of the survivors.
So the state may ask for almost Rs 900 crores of financial aid from the Union government. The Wire has confirmed this with its sources as well.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had previously told the media on August 6 that the state proposed to develop a township – as part of the rehabilitation model to be “on par with world-class facilities” – based on inputs from architects across the world, including individuals who have worked in such terrains similar to the Western Ghats, the mountain range in which the affected areas are located.
As per the report in The Hindu, the rehabilitation plan that the state government proposed is “a sustainable and resilient urban development rehabilitation model” for the district, which would include decentralised “terraced farming models” and homestead-style settlements.
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The plan, per the news report, will also integrate “concepts of elevated and stilt housing” in Wayanad to reduce “the risk of damage from soil erosion and waterlogging”.
On Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the landslide-hit areas on August 10, he had assured that the Union government would rise up to the occasion and fulfill Kerala’s demands once the state submits a detailed memorandum regarding the funds required from the Union government.
Modi had said that the ongoing work at the landslide sites would not stop for “lack of money”. Per The Hindu’s report, Kerala’s claim for Rs 900 crores will be evaluated by a high-level expert committee soon.
Experts recommend five sites for townships
Meanwhile, a five-member expert team has recommended five sites suitable for townships for the survivors, reported the Hindustan Times.
The team, headed by geologist John Mathai, who retired from the National Centre for Earth Science Studies, studied the ‘danger zones’ in Chooralmala, Mundakkai and Punchirimattam – villages that were the most affected by the landslides.
Mathai told HT that the team had submitted two reports to the state government. One pertained to the areas within the landslide-affected villages that can be classified as safe, and where people can be relocated if the government chooses to. The report assessed how safe the locations where the government is considering building townships for the survivors are. The government had chosen eight out of 24 sites they initially shortlisted.
Mathai’s team assessed the eight sites and eliminated three because these sites were unsuitable for large townships for reasons including steep inclines, he told HT.
“In the remaining five locations, we have demarcated areas which are suitable to build townships. We have avoided steep slopes and slanted areas. All of them are close to Meppadi town, which is 13 kilometres from the landslide site,” HT quoted Mathai as saying.
The team is also expected to submit a report on the main causes of the landslides that occurred on July 30.
Rs 6 lakh compensation for next of kin of dead
The Kerala CM recently announced that 17 entire families – a total of 65 people – were wiped out in the landslides. The state also announced a compensation of Rs 6 lakh to the next of kin of people who died in the landslides: this includes Rs 4 lakh from the State Disaster Relief Fund and Rs 2 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund.
The amount has already been distributed to the dependents of 59 deceased people, the CM said.
Per a report, Rs 10,000 each has already been distributed as emergency financial assistance to 691 families, and Rs 10,000 each handed over to the families of 172 people for their death ceremonies.
Vijayan said compensation was given to the dependents of 59 deceased people. Photo: X/@pinarayivijayan.
“We’ve lost our empathy”: Kerala HC on bank collecting loan EMIs
The Kerala high court on August 23 came down heavily on banks deducting EMIs of loans from the compensation received in the bank accounts of people who had lost their closest kin in the landslides. News houses had reported that the Kerala Gramin Bank, a rural regional bank, had done this.
Kerala CM Vijayan had said that “in such situations, we should not behave in a mechanical manner”, and urged banks to write off the loans of victims and survivors.
“No doubt banks advancing loans can recollect,” Bar and Bench quoted a bench of the Kerala high court as saying on August 23. “But when there is money given for a particular purpose to discharge obligations, the bank holds it in trust for beneficiaries. It cannot appropriate it for other uses of the bank. Second, [the] bank has a fundamental duty to show compassion in situations like this. It is a fundamental duty, for crying out loud!”
The bench directed the state’s counsel to find out whether such practices were being resorted to by banks and said that if this was happening, the court would “intervene”, Bar and Bench reported.
Such practices showed that people had lost their sense of empathy, the bench said.
“Ultimately, we are missing out on the humanitarian aspect of the whole thing! In the first week, everyone will cry and in the next week they do things like this,” the court said.
While taking up a suo motu case regarding the monitoring of relief measures in Wayanad, the court also sought to look into how to prevent such natural disasters in future, per the report.
