State govt. to take steps to make available documents lost in Wayanad landslides: M.B. Rajesh

State government to provide documents lost in Wayanad landslides, facilitate temporary rehabilitation, and discuss permanent rehabilitation plans.

The State government will take immediate steps to make available the documents that the victims lost in the Wayanad landslides, Minister for Local Self-Governments M.B. Rajesh has said. The Local Self-Government department (LSGD)  will, as per the guidelines of the Disaster Management Authority, collect the information regarding the lost records of people now residing in relief camps. The information collection will be completed within two days with the cooperation of various departments, he said while speaking to mediapersons at the Wayanad collectorate on August 5.

He said that the government will facilitate a temporary rehabilitation arrangement for those staying in the camps. For this purpose, information regarding government and non-government buildings in the nearby panchayats of Meppadi panchayat will be collected within a week. A total of 352 houses were completely destroyed and 122 houses partially in the landslides. Those residing in the camps will be shifted phase by phase based on the availability of the buildings. Plans for permanent rehabilitation are currently being discussed at the state-level, he said.

The Kudumbashree will prepare micro plans for each of the families in the disaster-affected areas. As part of this, 50 to 75 families will be provided with a community mentor. Five members from the State Mission will coordinate these activities. Twenty community resource persons will also be appointed for the project.

The Minister said that garbage disposal from disaster affected areas and camps is progressing well, with 12 tonnes of organic waste and seven tonnes of cloth waste removed already. Crushers will be used to remove the building debris. The Suchitwa Mission has installed 94 bio-toilets in the disaster affected areas and in the camps. More will be installed, if needed.

As Kottapadi, Vellarimala and Thrikkaipatta villages in Vythiri taluk have been declared disaster affected areas by the State government, steps will be taken to provide 150 days of employment through the Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). The limit on road construction activities through the employment guarantee scheme will be increased by 10%.

Data collection of missing persons in the disaster area is also being carried out through various means including ration cards, anganwadis, KSEB database, cooking gas customer database, Haritha Mithram mobile application user base, Labour department and banks.