Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday challenged Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s assertion that the state government was warned as early as July 23 about potential heavy rainfall and landslides in Wayanad. Vijayan countered that the India Meteorological Department (IMD) only issued an orange alert for the district before the landslides, which occurred after the region experienced over 500 millimeters of rainfall – far exceeding IMD’s predictions.
Addressing a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram, Vijayan stated, “A red alert was issued for the district only after the landslides hit there on Tuesday morning”. He clarified that a red alert, indicating extreme rainfall exceeding 20 cm in 24 hours, was only issued after the landslides struck on Tuesday morning. The CPI(M) leader emphasized that the current focus should be on addressing the crisis rather than engaging in a “blame game,” and he did not view Amit Shah’s remarks as adversarial.
Earlier, Amit Shah had claimed in the Rajya Sabha that the Kerala government ignored early warnings and failed to respond to the arrival of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams. Amit Shah claimed that the Kerala government was notified of potential danger seven days prior to the landslides, with a further warning issued on July 24. He suggested that if the state had acted promptly on these warnings, the severity of the disaster could have been reduced.
Amit Shah said, “On July 23, the government of India gave an early warning to the government of Kerala, which was 7 days before the incident”. Amit Shah also stated that the Centre had provided several early warnings to the Kerala government prior to the heavy rains that led to the devastating landslides in the state. “Then on July 24 and 25 too early warning was given. On July 26, 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 in this,” Shah added.
The catastrophic landslides in Kerala’s Wayanad district have claimed at least 158 lives and injured over 200 people, with the toll expected to rise as rescue efforts continue. On Wednesday, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai reported to the Rajya Sabha that 133 bodies have been recovered so far.
