After taking stock of the devastation in landslide-hit Wayanad on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised complete support to Kerala government’s rehabilitation efforts and that “working together would lead to good results”. Modi spent the day taking an aerial review of the area, walking along a completely flattened village, speaking to survivors, and holding review meetings with the Kerala government.
Modi asserted that it will ensure no work gets hampered due to lack of money. PM Modi chaired a review meeting in Wayanad after undertaking aerial and on-the-ground surveys of affected sites. The landslides killed at least 226 people, while over 100 are still missing and presumed dead.
The Prime Minister said that the central government will make all efforts to fulfil all state government requests. “I want to assure the families of the deceased that they are not alone. We are all standing with them. The Central Government stands with the Kerala Government and we will ensure no work is hampered due to the lack of money,” he added.
Modi landed in Kannur airport at 11 am and flew to Wayanad by an air force helicopter, which then took him on an aerial tour of the landslide hit Meppadi panchayat. Accompanied by Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Union Minister of State Suresh Gopi, the PM took two rounds in the helicopter to get a better view of the devastation at Punchiri Mattam, Mundakkai, Chooralmala and Attamala villages.
After this, he travelled 22 km by road to Chooralmala — one of the worst-hit villages. Here, he walked around the village bazaar and its residential areas with officials. Modi then used the Bailey bridge built across the Iruvazhinji river by the Indian Army to walk to the Mundakkai and Attamala — the two villages that had been completely cut off by the landslide — interacting with defence and senior National Disaster Response Force personnel along the way.
From here, he moved on to a relief camp at Meppadi, where he met nine survivors whose families had been wiped out in the landslide as well as doctors.Modi also visited the Wayanad Institute of Medical Sciences in Meppadi, where some of the injured are being treated.
Modi also held a meeting with the state government to review rescue and rehabilitation efforts. At the meeting, Vijayan sought financial support not only for rehabilitation efforts but also for combating climate change.