“Very diligent decisions to be taken in rehabilitation”: MoS Suresh Gopi on Wayanad landslides

New Delhi [India], August 5 (ANI): Union Minister Suresh Gopi said that “very diligent decisions” have to be taken in rehabilitation processes in Wayanad where massive landslides claimed over 300 lives.

Speaking to ANI in Delhi on Monday, MoS Suresh Gopi said that what more to be done is still under the assessment of the district administration.

“They are sending me a report. I have taken a ground reality check, I went to the place it cracked first and then the quantum of the debris,” Suresh Gopi said.

“All the concerned data should come from the district administration and that must be endorsed by the state govt also. Once it reaches me, I’ll take it to the Prime Minister. Very diligent, intelligent decisions to be arrived at in rehabilitation processes,” the MoS said.

Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav criticised the state government for “allowing encroachment” in the area where landslides occurred and wreaked widespread devastation on July 30.

Bhupendra Yadav alleged that there have been illegal human habitation and illegal mining activity going on under the protection of the local government.

“Even in the name of tourism, they are not making proper zones. They allowed the encroachment of this area. It is a highly sensitive area. We have already constituted a committee headed by former Director General of Forests Sanjay Kumar. They also made the correspondence with the Kerala government. We feel it is the state

government’s fault. There has been illegal human habitation and illegal mining activity in the protection of the local government,” Yadav said.

The rescue and relief operations in landslide-hit areas of Wayanad entered the seventh consecutive day on Monday with the death toll at 308.

As per the state government data, 220 bodies have been recovered so far and 180 people are still missing.

Speaking on the ongoing rescue operations, South Wayanad DFO, Ajit K Raman said that yesterday, 18 persons who had come from Nilambur got stranded in the Parappambara area and were located by the forest department team later.

“Our forest party conducted a search from the Kandambara side to the Parappambara side. The forest department people contacted them and they were safe. But we could not conduct any search operations last night. So this morning, along with the help of the NDRF we conducted a search and we could locate them and they are very safe. We could give them food and provisions and the dead body which they had identified yesterday that could be airlifted also,” Ajit K Raman said.

Late on Sunday night, the district administration carried out the mass burial of the mortal remains of the unidentified people killed in the landslides. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had earlier directed the district administration to carry out the formalities with interfaith prayers.

Upon the Kerala Government’s request, the Indian Air Force, on August 3, airlifted one ZAWER and four REECO radars from Siachen and Delhi for the search operations.