New Delhi: Union Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah made a veiled attack on the Kerala government for allegedly failing to act on early warnings issued by the Centre regarding the recent.
Amit Shan said that the NDRF team members were sent to Kerala a week ago, however the state government did not act as per the warnings issued by the central government.
Speaking in Parliament, Shah stated, “The Kerala government should have acted on the Centre’s early warnings and evacuated the residents from high-risk areas. Had they taken timely action, many lives could have been saved.”
Shah said the Centre had issued early warnings to the Kerala government on July 23, 24 and 25 about potential landslides, but the state government did not take sufficient action to relocate people from vulnerable areas.
He also said that the Centre acting on an early warning on potential threat of landslides had promptly sent nine teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to Kerala to manage the crisis on his direction.
Pinarayi refutes HM’s claims
Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan denied Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s claim that the state government was warned as early as July 23 regarding a possible natural calamity in Wayanad due to heavy rains.
Vijayan said that the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had only issued an orange alert in the district ahead of the landslides.
The Chief Minister added that the district received over 500 millimetres of rainfall, which was much higher than what was predicted by the IMD.
The Chief Minister added that this was not the time for a “blame game” and that he was not taking Shah’s remarks in an adversarial manner.
The Home Minister while referring to the weather alerts being issued to the state governments noted that Odisha, under BJD rule at that time, had successfully averted major losses during a tsunami by acting on early warnings. Similarly, the Gujarat government managed to prevent any casualties during a recent tsunami through prompt action based on advance alerts shared by the Centre.
Amit Shan said that the NDRF team members were sent to Kerala a week ago, however the state government did not act as per the warnings issued by the central government.
Speaking in Parliament, Shah stated, “The Kerala government should have acted on the Centre’s early warnings and evacuated the residents from high-risk areas. Had they taken timely action, many lives could have been saved.” Kerala States News India: Top News India, States News, States News Headlines, Online State News India, State Politics news
