Union Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday blamed the Pinarayi Vijayan government of Kerala for the scale of tragedy that happened in the Wayanad district on Tuesday following landslides there.
In a statement made in the Rajya Saya, Shah said that the Kerala government was given an early warning about landslides.
“My condolences to the bereaved families… I want to clarify something for the country… They kept on talking about early warning. I want to clarify that on July 23, the government of India gave an early warning to the government of Kerala, which was 7 days before the incident, and then on July 24 and 25 too early warning was given,” said Shah.
He said, on July 26, again a warning was given that there was a chance of heavy rainfall of more than 20 cm, and there were chances of landslides, there could be mudflow and people could lose lives.
“Questions are being raised about the early warning system of the government… The government has spent Rs 2,000 crore after 2014 for the early warning system…,” added Shah.
He said the Centre had dispatched nine NDRF teams on July 23 to Kerala after heavy rainfall was predicted for the southern state.
“… Under this early warning system, on July 23, at my direction, 9 NDRF teams were sent to Kerala considering that there could be landslides… What did the Kerala government do? Were the people shifted? And if they were shifted then how did they die?… The project of early warning started in 2016 and by 2023, India had the most modern early warning system… There are only 4 countries to predict 7 days in advance and India is one amongst them…,” he added.
He said the deaths due to Wayanad landslides could have been minimised had the Kerala government been alert and acted on the Centre’s warning or after the arrival of NDRF teams.
He said the Modi government is standing like a rock with the Kerala government and the people to deal with the tragedy.
With inputs from agencies
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Kerala got early warning on July 23 and 24: Home Minister Amit Shah on Wayanad landslide
