Kerala's Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has sharply responded to Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Shah had earlier claimed that the state government was warned in advance about the floods and landslide. Addressing the media in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday, the Chief Minister said, 'The central government needs to understand that there are serious issues related to climate change. Have we seen such extreme rainfall in the past as we are witnessing now? We need to work on climate change. When something like this happens, you cannot shirk responsibility by blaming others. As I said, I don't think this is the time for blame games.'
Pinarayi Vijayan was responding to Amit Shah's statement in the Rajya Sabha, where the Home Minister stated that Kerala was warned on July 23.
Amit Shah mentioned, 'Since 2014, the Centre has spent over Rs 2,000 crore to develop a forecasting system. I want to clarify that on July 23, the Centre warned Kerala a week in advance and then again on July 24 and 25. On July 26, a warning was issued that there was a likely chance of more than 20 cm of heavy rainfall, which could lead to a landslide.'
'Rainfall Far Exceeded the Warning'
The Home Minister stated that, considering the possibility of a landslide on July 23, nine NDRF teams were sent to Kerala. Shah questioned, 'What did the Kerala government do? Did they evacuate people? And if they did, how did lives get lost?' In response, Pinarayi Vijayan explained that the central meteorological warning was for 115-204 mm of rainfall in Wayanad. However, in the next 48 hours, the area received 572 mm of rainfall.
The Chief Minister added that only an Orange Alert was issued on the day of the landslide. He mentioned, 'No Red Alert had been issued even once before the tragedy. It was only after the landslide that a Red Alert was issued at 6 AM that day.'
The Chief Minister said that on July 29, the Geological Survey of India had issued a Green Alert for July 30 and 31, suggesting a minor likelihood of landslides or rockfalls. However, by then, heavy rains had already occurred and the landslide had taken place.
The Chief Minister asserted that the Union Home Minister presented information in Parliament that did not match the facts. Pinarayi Vijayan remarked, 'When they (Amit Shah) proudly say that we are the best (in providing advance warnings), I am just pointing out that mistakes have happened. I am not saying this to blame them.'
