PM Narendra Modi Monitoring Situation in Landslide-Hit Wayanad; Centre Extending All Possible Assistance to Kerala

New Delhi, July 31: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is continuously monitoring the situation in Kerala's Wayanad district in the aftermath of the landslides and all possible help is being extended to the state by the Centre, the government told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. Replying to the Calling Attention Motion on the Wayanad landslide tragedy, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said: "I am stating with sadness, that whatever information has been made available so far, rescue workers have taken out 133 bodies so far. The casualties may rise further."

He shared that as soon as news of the unfortunate landslides incident reached the prime minister and the home minister, from that time itself in the morning, all the people pro-actively extended whatever help was possible by the Centre. "Today itself a sum of Rs 145 crore has been disbursed from the state disaster response fund (SDRF) to the Kerala government and there is a balance sum of Rs 394 crore in the SDRF," Rai said. ‘Why Were People Not Relocated to Safer Places’: On Wayanad Landslides, Amit Shah Reveals Centre Gave Advance Warnings to Kerala Government on July 23.

Highlighting that the prime minister is continuously monitoring the situation, Rai informed that as per the PM's directive, George Kurien, the Union Minister of State, has reached the affected area last night itself. "Given the situation, it was a daunting task to reach the affected area, yet he reached and kept continuously in touch with Home Minister Amit Shah. The prime minister also kept taking regular updates from him," said the minister.

He added that the home minister has also spoken yesterday itself to the Kerala chief minister and he was given an assurance that all possible assistance will be extended by the central government. "The NDRF, Indian Army, Air Force and Navy teams promptly carried out search and rescue operations there in the aftermath of the incident," Rai said. He shared that 1,200 rescue workers from various organisations, including those named above and others, are working 24/7 in the search and rescue operations. Wayanad Landslides: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan Refutes Home Minister Amit Shah’s Claims of Prior Alert, Says ‘No Time for Blame Game’.

The minister further informed that Army's medical teams are providing treatment to those injured and additional resources are being deployed as per the requirement. "Centre is carrying out high level monitoring of the situation," Rai said, adding that both the disaster management rooms of the home ministry are monitoring the situation 24/7 and all possible assistance is being extended to the state.

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