New Delhi, Dec 12 (PTI) Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday hit out at Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, saying his "refusal" to explain why four months after the visit of an inter-ministerial team to Wayanad, there has been no report or action taken by the Centre, is inexplicable.

Rai said in the Lok Sabha on Thursday that the opposition parties should not politicise the Wayanad landslide tragedy as the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was alert and sensitive after the tragedy and provided full assistance to the state.

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Responding to the discussion on the 'Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024' in the House, he also said that the opposition should accept the cooperation of the Modi government.

Slamming Rai, Tharoor said, "Listening to MoS Nityanand Rai's reply to the debate on the Disaster Management Bill. His refusal to explain why, four months after the visit of the inter-ministerial team to Wayanad, there has been no report or action taken by the Central Government, is inexplicable. The people deserve better."

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"The Minister says that we can never 'prevent' natural disasters, we can only 'prepare' for them. This fails to contend with our critique that Government of India needs to add to the notified list of disasters to better grapple with climate change-induced natural calamities like coastal erosion and heatwaves," he said.

"If we take adequate measures to reverse environmental degradation by drawing them into the ambit of disaster management, then such disasters as the Wayanad landslides may not have been as devastating, the root causes having been tackled, and people relocated from the danger area in time," the MP from Thiruvanathapuram said on X.

In fact, not once has the MoS bothered to rebut any of the points the Congress raised, not least that of the institutionalisation of bodies with overlapping areas of operation and the failure to devolve financial and political autonomy to bodies such as the Urban Disaster Management Authorities, Tharoor said.

He claimed the bill will inflict a cumbersome and top-heavy structure on our national disaster response system.

"And sadly, there was no willingness to revive the Parliamentary Forum on Disaster Management, of which I was once Convenor but which has been abolished by the NDA government. After all, why bother with MPs' views when the government has all the answers and decides what the questions are?" he said.

Initiating the debate on the bill on Wednesday, Tharoor had claimed that the legislation is constitutionally untenable as it lacks on various fronts, is "ill thought out" and will lead to "overlapping".

He had said the bill would bring greater centralisation of power in the hands of the Central government.

Tharoor had said the legislation seeks to weaken the national executive committee and state executive committees related to disaster management.

He had lamented that the Kerala government's demand for declaring the rains, floods and landslides in Wayanad that took place in July as a national disaster was rejected by the Central government.

The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed a bill to strengthen the efficient working of the national and state disaster management authorities with the government emphasising that the legislation will help states in handling all disasters in a better way.

The House cleared the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024 to amend the Disaster Management Act by a voice vote. PTIK

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