CM Vijayan to meet PM Modi on Tuesday over Wayanad rehabilitation project

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 26 (IANS) Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday in the national capital with a memorandum on the support and assistance from the Centre for the proposed Wayanad rehabilitation project.

The CM will arrive in Delhi later in the day.

The worst-ever natural disaster in a single place in the state took place on July 30 which has left 416 dead and around 120 people still missing.

Four villages in the hilly district were washed away causing untold destruction to life and property.

The schools in these villages are now scheduled to open on September 2.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited several areas of the ravaged locations early this month. He held a review meeting at the Wayanad Collectorate in Kaleptta where he said that the Centre would provide all the help possible to further the relief and rehabilitation efforts in the landslide-hit areas and asked the state government to prepare a detailed memorandum.

Meanwhile, search operations continued in landslide-affected Wayanad areas and on Sunday six body parts were recovered.

The search operation on Monday was called off due to heavy rain in the affected areas.

Following the disaster the Vijayan government set up over 100 relief camps in the four affected villages and 729 families were moved to it.

By now there are very few people left in the relief camps, as the state government has moved the rest to the buildings which have been taken over by the state government. The state is paying the rent wherever it has to be paid.

Help has been pouring in cash and kind with contributions crossing Rs 100 crore besides promises to sponsor around 1,000 homes.

CM Vijayan has said that the government is planning a self-contained township for which the Centre’s help is needed. Another help that will have to come from the Centre is with regards to the loans taken by the affected people as at present what has come is a moratorium on repayments of loans, while the need of the hour is to write off all loans taken.

–IANS

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