Priyanka Gandhi Criticizes Centre's Conditional Relief for Wayanad Landslide

Photo : PTI

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, raising concerns about the help the Centre is providing for the areas of Chooralmala and Mundakkai in Kerala's Wayanad. These areas were badly affected by a landslide in July last year.

Ms. Gandhi Vadra, who represents Wayanad in the Lok Sabha, said the relief package given by the Centre was not enough. She was especially upset with two conditions attached to the Rs 529.5 crore in aid. First, the money was given as a loan, not as a grant, which is usually the case in such situations. Second, the money had to be used up by March 31, 2025, which didn’t leave much time to plan and use it.

She said that these conditions were not fair and showed that the government did not care enough about the people of Chooralmala and Mundakkai. She also reminded the Prime Minister that during his visit to the affected areas, he raised hopes of large financial support, but those hopes had not been met. She mentioned that the Centre had also refused to declare the landslide a “national disaster,” which added to the disappointment of the people.

The Rs 529.5 crore loan that the government had granted must be repaid over 50 years. Kerala’s Finance Minister, KN Balagopal, said that the deadline to use the money by March 31, 2025, was too short and caused a lot of problems. Kerala had earlier asked for a much larger amount, Rs 2,262 crore, for the rehabilitation of the affected areas.

The landslides in Wayanad caused the deaths of nearly 300 people, destroyed more than 1,600 homes, schools, and other buildings, and buried over 100 acres of land under mud. In her letter, Ms. Gandhi Vadra mentioned how difficult things still are for the people there. Even after six months, they are struggling to get their lives back on track. She shared that 298 people had died, and some families had lost everything, with 14 families losing 58 members. Over 1,600 buildings, including homes, schools, and government offices, were destroyed.

Ms. Gandhi Vadra also asked for help to rebuild two schools that were completely destroyed: the Government Vocational Higher Secondary School in Vellarmala and the Government Lower Primary School in Mundakkai. These schools served over 650 children, and their destruction has left the children without a place to study.

She also pointed out that many people in the area made their living from farming crops like tea, coffee, and cardamom. The landslide has taken away their way of earning money. Others who depended on tourism have also lost their livelihoods.

In Chooralmala, some survivors of the landslide held a protest to demand quicker help. However, after meeting with local authorities, the protest was called off. One protest leader said they still wanted to meet the District Collector because 17 families had been left off the list of people who would receive help. The protest had started when police stopped a march, leading to some arguments between the protesters and the police.

The letter from Ms. Gandhi Vadra and the protests show that the people in Wayanad are still struggling and need more support to rebuild their lives after the landslide disaster.

Feb. 24, 2025 {{ Blogdetails.schedule_date|time }} 378

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