Kerala announces rehabilitation project for Wayanad landslide survivors

The Kerala government on Wednesday approved a comprehensive rehabilitation project for survivors of devastating landslides in Wayanad district that killed over 200 people last July.

The project involves setting up two townships to provide a safe and sustainable living environment for those affected by the disaster. 

Addressing a press conference after the cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the two townships, proposed in two selected plantation estates in Kalpetta and Kottappady, would have all basic amenities, including houses, schools, health centres, anganwadis, markets, parking areas, playgrounds, drinking water, sanitation facilities, and so on.

 

The CM addressed the press conference to detail the proposed project, which, he said, would be completed in a time-bound manner.

He said rehabilitation does not mean just providing a house but it would compromise all possible livelihood means to help the survivors to move on with their lives.

All those who come forward with a helping hand would be made part of the project, he said, adding that all such assistance would be coordinated to complete the project.

The CM also indicated the difficulty in finding land in Wayanad in a way to rehabilitate all the survivors in a single place.

"The Nedumbala Estate in Kottappady village and Elstone Estate in Kalpetta village were selected for setting up the proposed townships," Vijayan said, adding that the land was decided to be taken over as per the Disaster Management Act 2005.

According to the difference in land value and price, a family, being rehabilitated in Elstone and Nedumbala Estates, would get five and 10 cents each respectively.

Steps are on to release the final list of landslide-affected families by January 25, he said, adding that a microplan survey was also carried out to ensure them livelihood means in various sectors, including agriculture, animal husbandry, micro-entrepreneurship and so on.

Even after being rehabilitated to the townships, the ownership of their land in landslide-hit areas would continue to be vested in them only, he said.

As per the opinion of finance and law departments, it has been decided to nominate Uralunkal Labour Contract Society as the contractors for setting up the townships.

There would be a three-tier system in place to implement the project and a chief minister-headed panel would oversee it.

Those survivors who would like to stay outside the township would be given Rs 15 lakh each, the CM further said.

Referring to the recent declaration of the Wayanad landslide as a disaster of a severe nature by the Centre, Vijayan said though an official announcement had been received in this regard, there was no indication in the communication about the financial assistance to the state, loan waiver for disaster victims or relaxation of norms for the disbursement of funds from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).

Five months after devastating landslides destroyed three villages in Wayanad, the Union Government recently declared it a disaster of "severe nature," recognising its intensity and impact for all practical purposes, an official source said on Monday.

In a communication to the Kerala government, the Union Home Ministry explained that financial aid for such severe disasters is initially provided by the SDRF, which is then supplemented by the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) based on assessments conducted by an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT).

Vijayan said if the announcement was made within two months after the tragedy, the state would have received additional social assistance from United Nations institutions and NGOs. "That opportunity has been lost through this delay. But, we will continue to try. The government will use all these opportunities effectively," he said.

Despite being one among the 122 "aspiration villages" in the country, the Centre is yet to take the basic and humanistic step to write off the debts of disaster-hit people there, he alleged.

The landslides that struck Mundakkai and Chooralmala regions of Wayanad on July 30 left over 200 people dead and many others injured, nearly wiping out both areas.