New Delhi: The opposition leaders in the Rajya Sabha slammed the Centre for a failed Early Warning System for floods in Kerala’s Wayanad, even as many expressed concerns over the incident that struck the southern Indian state.
Around 163 have so far been killed since Tuesday, with over 200 missing and scores injured in Wayanad district following massive landslides caused by flooding due to heavy rains.
John Brittas, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader and Rajya Sbaha member, said this is the worst landslide that has hit Kerala.
“The radius of this disaster extends beyond Wayanad, and keeping this magnitude of this tragedy in mind, we have to employ all sorts of devices to ensure that the rescue operations also have the magnitude of covering the areas beyond Wayanad,” said Bittas.
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Brittas informed the house that of the 3,782 landslides that have occurred in the past seven years across the nation, 60% have struck Kerala and pleaded the home ministry to declare this incident a national disaster.
He thanked the Union government for deploying the army, navy, and air force to deal with the situation on ground. “I, however, urge the Union government not to get the Kerala government to pay for these services like we had to pay during the 2018 floods.”
Aam Aadmi Party’s Raghav Chadha extended condolences to the families of the deceased and affected people even as he demanded the central government announce a relief package for the state.
“We must strengthen our Early Warning System, improve infrastructure resilience, ensure inter-agency co-ordination and provide comprehensive rehabilitation and proper training to the people of the affected areas,” Chadha said.
Saket Gokhale from the Trinamool Congress urged the central government to allow the Kerala state government to use 25% of the State Disaster Relief Funds (SDRF). States are otherwise allowed to use only 10% of the funds if the disaster is not declared to be a national disaster.
“I also demand the finance minister include Kerala among the five states that will receive disaster relief funds, since the budget is still under consideration,” added Gokhale. He also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take an aerial survey of the state to show the government’s solidarity with the people.
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Manoj Jha said, “With such technological developments, we must aim towards broad-basing our disaster preparedness, prevention, and mitigation.”
CPI (M)’s A A Rahim blamed the Centre for ensuring proper systems in Kerala for disaster preparedness. “Prevention is better than cure. Kerala, however, does not have one properly functional modern weather forecasting radar system, and we have been demanding that since 2013.”
Government took measures, says MoS Nityanand Rai in Lok Sabha
Union minister of state for home affairs, Nityanand Rai, told the Rajya Sabha that measures have been taken to prevent landslides and manage natural disasters in the past.
Rai detailed the guidelines, training programs, and technological initiatives in place to mitigate the impact of such calamities.
Rai said that the government has issued 33 guidelines covering floods, earthquakes, and landslides to improve disaster management across the country.
He highlighted the creation of an atlas by the National Remote Sensing Centre for states such as West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka.
“The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) now provides seven-day weather predictions, which is crucial for early warning and planning,” Rai said.
He also mentioned the allocation of Rs.364 crore for the Common Alerting Protocol scheme, which sends advanced SMS alerts to regions prone to floods and earthquakes. “In the last two years, more than 2 billion SMS alerts have been generated under this scheme,” he added.
The MoS added that at the local level, the government has launched the Aapda Mitra Yojana, aimed at training people in disaster-prone areas to cooperate with authorities during emergencies.
“Almost 100,000 volunteers have been trained under this scheme,” said Nityanand Rai. He emphasised the continuous mock drills conducted by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in these regions to ensure readiness.
