In response to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s assertion that Kerala received early warnings about the heavy rains and potential landslides in Wayanad, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan refuted the claims, suggesting that the warnings were inadequate and came too late.
During a press briefing, Vijayan emphasized that the rescue operations in the landslide-affected Wayanad are ongoing amid torrential rains, with approximately 200 people still missing and 205 confirmed dead.
“I do not wish to engage in a blame game now as the people in Wayanad are going through untold misery on account of the massive landslide. But the fact of the matter is that there were predictions that came out and they never mentioned a red alert in the affected area. In fact, the red alert came on Tuesday at 6 am, when the tragedy occurred several hours before,” Pinarayi Vijayan said.
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The Chief Minister highlighted the discrepancy between the predicted and actual rainfall. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had forecasted 115 mm to 204 mm of rain, but the area experienced 200 mm in the first 24 hours and an additional 372 mm in the following 24 hours, totalling 572 mm of rain over 48 hours — far exceeding the forecast.
Furthermore, Pinarayi Vijayan noted that there were no landslide warnings from the Geological Survey of India before the disaster struck. He also mentioned that alerts from the Central Water Commission regarding swollen rivers were absent during the critical period from July 23 to 29.
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“Then there was an alert from the Central Water Commission and it said that from July 23 to 29, not for one single day… of the two rivers which got swollen, there was no mention at all. What was said in the Parliament is not true,” Pinarayi Vijayan added, stressing that the state had requested the deployment of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), contrary to claims of proactive central intervention.
Earlier today, Amit Shah informed Parliament that the Kerala government was given warnings about potential landslides on July 23 — a week before the Wayanad tragedy. He underscored that India is among four countries capable of providing natural disaster warnings at least seven days in advance and mentioned that nine NDRF teams were dispatched to Kerala.
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“The Kerala government did not evacuate people in time,” Amit Shah remarked in the Rajya Sabha.
Despite the ongoing rescue efforts, Pinarayi Vijayan urged against politicizing the tragedy, focusing instead on the immediate needs and suffering of the affected residents in Wayanad.
